Love them or hate them, the festas held in our towns and villages are but one of the many events organised mainly thanks to the involvement of hundreds of individuals on a voluntary basis.
Living in a country where we love to boast about records, particularly about being the most generous nation on earth, one would imagine that, in terms of the number of people who volunteer their free time in one or other sector, we would easily find ourselves in the premier league.
A survey carried out by the National Statistics Office in 2007 recorded that there were 5,674 active volunteers in Malta. However, a 2011 study of volunteering in the European Union quotes other sources suggesting that volunteers represent 12 per cent of the adult population, indicating that over 33,000 volunteers aged 16-64 are involved in volunteering. Other sources claim that as many as 54,000 young people are engaged in carrying out voluntary activities.
The 2014 statistics on income and living conditions survey, carried out by the NSO, revealed that 31,578 people aged 12 and over and living in private households did some form of voluntary work on a regular basis.
A Eurobarometer survey on volunteering and intergenerational solidarity carried out in 2011, which was the European Year for Volunteering, found that, in the European Union, close to a quarter of respondents undertook a voluntary activity, 11 per cent of whom on a regular basis and 13 per cent occasionally. Malta was classified rather low, with only 16 per cent, which was well below the EU average. The top ranking country was the Netherlands (57 per cent) followed by Denmark (43 per cent ). Malta found itself in the same category with countries like Spain, Greece and Romania.
Our low classification could be due to a number of reasons. From an early age, children are caught up in the cycle of being pressured into academic achievement. Even their extracurricular activities are increasingly more ‘competitive’, leaving them very little time to engage in other activities. I am amazed how, when interviewing fresh university graduates, so few of them have actually involved themselves in anything not strictly related to their studies.
In my view and from my experience, students who have been involved in student life beyond the lecture room and the library are better graduates. The culture of volunteering is not ingrained in our society despite the fact that it may appear to be so.
It is interesting to note that the NSO survey found that 62 per cent of active volunteers were female.
The sectors where volunteering is strong are community activities, recreation, social affairs and assistance, sport, religious volunteering, education, children and youth, environment and arts and culture.
NSO statistics for 2004 indicated that the average time spent by the Maltese population on voluntary activities amounted to 0.4 hours per weekday and 0.8 hours per weekend day.
It is a well-known fact that major organisations in the country, ranging from the political parties to the Church, depend heavily on volunteers. Even local government is more or less a ‘voluntary activity’ given that, normally, unless a person has reached retirement age, s/he serve as mayor or local councillor on a part-time basis and receive only token remuneration.
The culture of volunteering is not ingrained in our society despite the fact that it may appear to be so
In 2007, the Maltese Parliament enacted the Voluntary Organisations Act, aimed at regulating voluntary organisations and their administration. The need for such a law had been felt for quite some time because the situation had been the usual ‘free for all’ mentality where everything goes.
It was about time that some element of transparency and accountability was introduced since voluntary organisations are non-profit and, therefore, depend almost exclusively on public funding that is taxpayer’s money, or contributions from individuals. Hence, for instance, the law provides that voluntary organisations that are enrolled in terms of the Act can make public collections without the need for any further authorisation.
The role of commissioner was established to act as a regulator of the voluntary sector. In his annual report for 2015, the commissioner records that, since 2008, 1,228 organisations applied to be enrolled.
Earlier this year, a public consultation was launched on amendments to the law with the aim of addressing difficulties that have arisen on the interpretation and application of the Voluntary Organisations Act. One such issue is the one that arose with the Church authorities over religious organisations. It is now being proposed that entities controlled by religious organisations would be excluded from the definition of a voluntary organisation just like those entities that are government controlled.
Organisations that are merely established but not controlled by religious organisations may enrol or even be obliged to enrol if, for instance, they wish to be eligible for State funding earmarked for voluntary organisations.
Over the years, I have had the opportunity to work in different capacities with volunteers and with voluntary organisations. When I was actively engaged in community life, I was more or less totally dependent on the support of many generous individuals who would dedicate so much of their free time to the community. It is truly incredible how so many people would go out of their way and without any kind of compensation. It still marvels me that there are such altruistic individuals who do something just because they believe in a cause and feel that they need to do something about it.
Naturally, problems would arise, particularly when clashes occurred often due to people having incompatible personalities or even becoming jealous of one another. One of the major challenges of a community leader or, indeed, of any leader of a voluntary organisation, is trying to manage situations such as those I have just described. I know of many instances where the leaders themselves have clashed, causing the organisation to split up. Unfortunately, the voluntary sector in Malta is characterised by immense fragmentation. It is a great pity because resources are so limited and so much more could be achieved by working better together.
In my present occupation, my relationship with voluntary organisations is different because I now head an entity that seeks to engage voluntary organisations in a consultation process and assist them in securing EU funds. The main problems I see here are more in relation to empowerment and resources.
The whole concept of ‘civil society’ is relatively new to this country. Voluntary organisations play an important role in strengthening the role of civil society, particularly in keeping authorities in check in areas such as the environment although, even here, unfortunately, I believe that fragmentation has contributed to a divide et impera situation that renders civil society weak and not so credible.
Another major difficulty faced by voluntary organisations is that many of them end up being a one–man band. When push comes to shove, despite boasting of a large membership, it is only a very few who are actually committed in a voluntary organisation and end up by having to do most of the work themselves.
Furthermore, there is what I consider a mistaken attitude that ‘volunteer’ means ‘amateur’. In my view, this works against the organisations themselves. In today’s world, volunteers need to be professional, not only due to the demands of the applicable laws but also because, despite all good intentions, it is dangerous to take upon oneself a task when one is clearly not prepared or suited for it.
From my experience, the lack of financial resources also seriously handicaps many voluntary organisations. Some have managed to generate income through donations or by accessing EU programmes or local funding schemes for NGOs. However, although I believe there should be financial support to voluntary organisations, this should not make them dependent on the authorities providing such funding because this might also impinge on the autonomy of civil society, particularly when taking up controversial issues.
I conclude by paying tribute to the thousands of volunteers in Malta without whom life on these little rocks would be duller and much less colourful.