The report “Youth volunteering situation in employment: skills and employability”, carried out by the Spanish Confederation of Don Bosco Youth Centres, Didania Federation and ASDE Scouts Spain, shows that the unemployment rate among volunteers is 23%, well below the youth unemployment rate nationally in Spain, which exceeds 50%.
39% of volunteers consider that voluntary work “helps to some extent” or “helps a lot” in finding a job and most include their volunteering participation on their CV. Core skills obtained through volunteering such as team-working, communication, relationship-building and problem-solving are all necessities in the job market. Demonstrating skills developed through work in the volunteer sector can strongly increase a candidate’s appeal to prospective employers.
This study is the first step of Reconoce or 'Acknowledge' project. The aim of the project is to enhance recognition of the invaluable contribution made by volunteers working in youth clubs and leisure activity centres and to improve their employability.
These are the next stages for the project promoters, who bring together a network comprising of around 15 000 volunteers:
- creation of a network of ‘Reconoce organisations’ aiming to gain recognition of volunteering experience
- development of a campaign to raise awareness amongst employers of the skills and experience developed through volunteering
- organisation of a series of roundtables for representatives from government and youth organisations as a first step to kick start an official procedure to gain formal recognition of volunteers’ professional skills
The ‘Reconoce’ project is one of 38 selected the Spanish Active Citizenship NGO Programme. Managed by the NGO Platform of Social Action, the programme has received €4.6 million in funding from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants. The programme aims to foster civil society, social justice and democracy by strengthening the role of the NGOs in society.