Beijing on Wednesday issues a regulation to promote volunteer
service and protect volunteers' rights especially during the
impending Olympic Games.
The regulation, approved by the 12th Beijing Municipal People's
Congress Standing Committee, specifies the rights as well as
obligations of volunteers, including their priority to get
assistance, the access to education and training and so on.
It said that if either the volunteers or the volunteers'
organization requests an agreement, they should sign a written
contract. A formal contract is required if the volunteers are
involved in more than three-months full-time service or do work
with higher risks.
In addition, the regulation has for the first time stated a
cost-sharing mechanism, saying a foundation for voluntary service
will be established to subsidize volunteers and provide incentives
for outstanding voluntary work.
Legal experts believed the regulation will standardize the
working system of volunteers and create a more favorable social
atmosphere for voluntary service.
In a different story, Shanghai on Wednesday started to solicit
volunteers' logos and slogans for the 2010 World Expo. The closing
date for entries is April 30, 2008 and the selection process is
slated from early June to the end of July next year.
Xu Weiguo, deputy Party secretary of the Coordination Bureau for
the Shanghai Expo, estimated that during the six-month-long event
the demand for volunteers is expected to reach several hundred of
thousands of people.
About 25.11 million people have registered as volunteers since
China issued a regulation on volunteer registration management last
year, the Chinese Communist Youth League (CCYL) said on
Wednesday.
December 5 marks International Volunteers Day. Beijing kicked
off a week-long international exchange program on volunteers' work,
inviting representatives from 12 countries and regions to share
experiences with domestic volunteers group.
(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2007)