DEVELOPMENT OF YOUTH VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS IN THE CONDITION OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN THE COMMUNITIES, NEIGHBORING TO THE AREA OF THE JOINT FORCED OPERATION IN THE EAST OF UKRAINE

Volunteering is popular among young people in Ukraine. This is especially important for the communities, neighboring the area of the Joint Forces Operation in the East of Ukraine. However, one of the current challenges for the volunteer program development has been quarantine restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The main goal of the article is to analyze the participation of young people in volunteer programs during the quarantine restrictions related to COVID-19, in the communities neighboring the area of the Joint Forces Operation in the East of Ukraine. The authors of the study used the "rapid appraisal" technique. Thus, in May 2020, the authors interviewed 22 representatives of state and non-government organizations of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine which implemented youth volunteer projects. The study revealed challenges caused by quarantine restrictive measures which have been grouped by authors into two groups: organizational and methodological. The answers of the respondents provided the basis to identify the positive outcomes caused by the change of the usual format of youth volunteer programs and its development: mastering of distant forms of communication by employees; development of qualitatively new ideas and introducing training programs for volunteers; increasing the ability to use the Internet to promote volunteer programs; practicing online volunteering.

Volunteering online – today’s challenges

The article examines the issue of online volunteering in Ukraine and the world as a whole. The concepts of volunteering and e-volunteering are defined. Current data is presented on the state of volunteering in Ukraine amidst the pandemic according to the survey «Volunteering during quarantine», which took place in August 2020. 4148 respondents from all over Ukraine took part in the survey. The study was conducted by U-Report - an international youth project of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The focus is on available online resources for potential volunteers in response to the challenges of volunteering activities that have arisen on quarantine restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following online opportunities are described: Ukrainian Volunteer Service, Ukraїner, National Holodomor Museum with the initiative to digitize the history of eyewitnesses to the events of that time, the #FINDWAY project. One type of remote volunteering is considered to be hotlines; the My Telephone Friend project, the Children's National Hotline of the La Strada-Ukraine International Women's Human Rights Center, the free Legal Aid Hotline, and others. The «Fundamentals of Volunteering» course of the all-Ukrainian Public Center «Volunteer» is analyzed, which has online lectures in the format of picture-links: volunteering, who a volunteer is, the skills and abilities of a volunteer, volunteer opportunities. The English-language book The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook by D. Kravens and S. J. Ellis is examined, which addresses how to successfully lead online volunteers and develop virtual volunteer assignments, from microvolunteering to long-term projects. The content of the report «Are technologies capable of opening access to volunteering instead of creating new barriers?», which was considered during the Global Technical Meeting 2020 on Voluntary Activities, is analyzed.

Organization of work of education volunteers online

This article explorers the concept of online volunteering, the historical background of its emergence and distribution, the current state of this phenomenon. The essence of the project “Online Education Volunteers”, which is being implemented on the basis of the IKBFU (Kaliningrad, Russia), is revealed. The project is based on the ideas of the cluster approach in education. The stages of project organization are described in detail. The results of a survey of volunteers regarding their attitude to online education are presented. As a result, risks were foreseen that hinder the introduction of online volunteering. The features of testing the program and the organization of reflexive practices based on the results of the project are revealed. As a result, the general goals of online education were identified, contributing to productive interaction and the main areas of training online volunteers. It is concluded that the implementation of the project makes it possible to create an information-rich educational online environment based on the principles of network interaction and social partnership, to implement a cluster approach to build a new educational space, including further joint development of developmental programs, practices and educational relationships with an emphasis on personal development and self-realization of both schoolchildren and students. The tools proposed in the article stimulated the emergence of some pedagogical precedents, which can become the basis for further research and methodological development.

Satisfaction With Informal Volunteering During the COVID-19 Crisis: An Empirical Study Considering a Swiss Online Volunteering Platform

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a huge wave of compassion. In particular, online volunteering platforms established channeling help for high-risk groups. It is unclear under which conditions volunteers were satisfied with their COVID-19 volunteering mediated by these platforms and whether they will continue their engagement after the crisis. Therefore, and considering personal susceptibility to COVID-19 infection, this study analyzes the effects of different platform support for volunteers and the fulfillment of volunteers’ motives. The study is based on an online survey of a sample of 565 volunteers who registered at and were placed by a Swiss online platform. Fulfillment of distinct volunteer motives and platform support drive COVID-19 volunteering satisfaction. Moreover, motive fulfillment and platform-related support indirectly impact willingness to volunteer long-term via volunteering satisfaction. Finally, the empirical results show that motive fulfillment and the effect of platform support are contingent on perceived susceptibility to infection.

Unemployment and Digital Public Goods Contribution

Economic crises have a harmful effect on employment. However, whereas the resulting loss of jobs has been shown to have many negative consequences for the affected individuals, it may also push them into new activities, such as provision of service to their communities. In this paper, we show how individuals engage in socially useful activities after an increase in unemployment. Specifically, we document increased online content generation at Wikipedia, the world’s largest user-generated knowledge repository. Leveraging German district-level and European country-level unemployment data, we analyze the relationship between the economic crisis in 2008–2010 and contributions to Wikipedia. We find increased socially valuable activity in the form of knowledge acquisition and contributions to Wikipedia. For German districts, we observe an increase in the rate of content generation on Wikipedia in more severely affected districts. These effects are even stronger at the European country level. Our findings suggest that public goods provision increases as a positive side effect of economic crises. We stress that similar patterns could apply to other digital content platforms. Under the backdrop that the potential value of the outcome of online volunteering and its societal impact is expected to grow drastically in the next years, we show that platforms could benefit from negative economic conditions in attracting volunteers. Moreover, in the coming years, the rapid development of artificial intelligence will call for a rise of online volunteering platforms. Therefore, the potential value of the outcome of online volunteering and its societal impact is expected to grow drastically in the next years.

The Challenges and Opportunities of Online Volunteering for COVID-19 Response in Iran: A Qualitative Study

Background: The aim of this brief report is to identify the challenges and opportunities of online volunteering to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of the managers of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS).Methods: In this study we have used a qualitative method including semi-structured interviews for investigating the opportunities and challenges of using virtual volunteers. The eligible participants meeting the inclusion criteria for this study were eight IRCS managers who had used online volunteers for COVID-19 pandemic response.Results: Having considered the interviews with IRCS managers, we finally found seven items as opportunities including safety, availability, recruiting more volunteers, cost reduction, participation, geographical scope, and local considerations. Moreover, five items were found as challenges of online volunteering in IRCS including lack of commitment, cultural issues, infrastructure, reimbursement, and volunteer management.Conclusion: Online volunteering is a significant opportunity for humanitarian organizations especially during epidemics like the current COVID-19. Online volunteering for COVID-19 response by the Red Crescent involved a wide range of people including young people, the elderly, people with disabilities and minority groups, and people in rural areas.