Georgia creates Law on Volunteering

Georgia has created legislation to regulate the rules around volunteering, particularly the involvement of private entities in public activities.

Parliament of Georgia today adopted the Law on Volunteering with 79 votes in favour and none against.

The Law related to volunteers aged 16 and above. People under this age can take part in volunteering activities only if the person has permission from his/her parents or legal guardians. Additionally, young people can only take part in volunteering activities if the action does not hinder the interests of the volunteer, hamper their moral or physical abilities or disrupt their education.

The new law stated people aged 16 to 18 years can volunteer for a maximum of 36 hours per week.

The most impressive example of volunteering happened in Georgia following the deadly Tbilisi flood of June 13. In the days after the flood thousands of people teamed up to clean the city. Read Agenda.ge journalist Lali Tsertsvadze’s story about the heroes of June 13.

If the volunteer work was expected to continue for more than a month, a Volunteer Contract must be signed by the volunteer and the organiser of the action before any volunteer work could begin.

The Law on Volunteering stated voluntary public activities could be defined as a person who gave a helping hand to legal entities who worked to protect human rights and democracy; developing civil society and media; improving education, science, culture or art; overcoming poverty and more. The law outlined almost every field of economic or social activities.

The law also said any organisation who receives voluntary assistance must pay the volunteers for their service.

The law will come into force as soon as Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili signs the paperwork.