Corporate volunteering in CIS countries
Russia continues to study corporate volunteering in Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries
15.04.2024
Article published on the ASI website
Corporate volunteers have joined the effort to help flood victims in Orsk. This and other initiatives were discussed at a meeting of the Public Chamber’s Coordination Council for International Cooperation.
Corporate volunteering practices are still in demand, not only in Russia but also in CIS countries was the message from a joint meeting of the Public Chamber’s Coordination Council for International Cooperation and the National Council for Corporate Volunteering (NCCV).
“The real value of corporate volunteering becomes evident when dealing with complex challenges such as the flooding in Orsk where right now volunteers are supporting the work of humanitarian aid distribution centres and delivering this aid by boat in the very heart of the city”, said Vadim Kovalev, Deputy Chair of the Public Chamber’s Commission on Economics and Labour Relations and advisor to the CEO of Ural Steel.
According to Kovalev, it is very important in these situations to develop cooperation between countries in the field of volunteerism. Andrey Topolev, Director of ASI Consulting, spoke about corporate practices in the CIS. He presented the results of its survey on Volunteer Practices and Corporate Volunteering in CIS countries which collected the experiences of volunteering from nine countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
“Corporate volunteering as a form of charity is one of the most effective tools in the interaction between business and society. It is therefore encouraging that more and more companies in CIS countries are joining the volunteer movement and, by so doing, improving the quality of life in local communities and strengthening the loyalty of their employees”, said Elena Topoleva-Soldunova, Chair of the Public Chamber’s Commission on the Development of the Non-Profit Sector.
The survey used data from publicly available sources on Russian-language websites in all nine countries, including media publications, social network posts and non-financial company reports.
According to Andrey Topolev, the most advanced corporate volunteering practices can currently be found in Russia where the NCCV has been operating for ten years. This provides great opportunities for meaningful exchange of experience at inter-country level.
“Corporate volunteering practices are in demand, not just in Russia but also in CIS, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and Eurasian Economic Union countries which highlights the importance of combining the efforts of business, CSOs and Government agencies to achieve tangible and positive changes in society and for the environment”, said Irina Zhukova, Chair of the NCCV.
The full report on the results of the survey can be found on: https://asi.org.ru/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/obzor_kso_sng_full.pdf
