الإجراءات المتخذة:
Promotion of the Solidarity Fund
Italian Red Cross has put in place several measures to ensure the safety and well-being of its Volunteers. We talk about documents, procedures, national and international collaborations, but certainly, it is crucial to talk about the National Society’s participation in the solidarity fund that supported Volunteers during the recent health emergency.
Through the IFRC, the National Society has supported the development and improvement of a Volunteer Safety Training and Insurance System.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Italian Red Cross worked with IFRC to elaborate a guideline to assist National Societies in securing insurance coverage, throught two options: obtaining insurance coverage through a private insurance company or establishing a solidarity mechanism run by the National Society (self-insurance).
Documents, procedures, and interventions to support Volunteers’ safety and well-being
Italian Red Cross is evolving its approach to Volunteer welfare. Recognizing Volunteers as central to its mission, it’s moving beyond basic safety protocols to a comprehensive care model. This model addresses physical, emotional, and motivational needs. By creating shared guidance documents for all governance levels, the organization aims to standardize and enhance this holistic care. This approach reflects a deep appreciation for Volunteers and an understanding that their well-being is crucial to the National Society’s effectiveness.
- The “Volunteering Policy” approved in November 2022, represents a guiding tool for the definition and management of Volunteering. It emerged from broad consultation as a response to societal changes and it emphasizes the policy’s Volunteer-centric approach, valuing individual Volunteers’ experiences. The policy establishes principles that position volunteering as complementary to public services, legally compliant, participatory, inclusive, educational, equitable, and contributing to societal values. This reaffirms the Italian Red Cross’ commitment to adapting its Volunteer management to contemporary realities while upholding core humanitarian principles.The Italian Red Cross has outlined several commitments to provide “global care” for its Volunteers, including:
- Monitoring and addressing Volunteers’ needs, motivations, engagement, and well-being through participatory processes;
- Ensuring complete safety and security through proper training, equipment, insurance coverage, and psychosocial support;
- Promoting diversity and inclusion by welcoming volunteers regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, disability, beliefs, etc;
- Fostering gender equality and equal opportunities within the organization;
- Investing in data management systems to properly collect, process, and secure volunteer information;
- Developing new, flexible models of volunteering to enable open, innovative participation.;
- Strengthening networks to help achieve the humanitarian mandate;
- Prioritizing volunteer retention by valuing their time, addressing their needs, providing support/mentorship throughout their involvement.
The overarching goals are to create a positive Volunteer experience, empower volunteers, promote inclusivity, use modern systems/models, and ultimately enable Volunteers to contribute effectively to the humanitarian mission.
The Volunteering Policy is followed by a concrete and specific tool that recounts the concrete actions to fulfill the commitments made. This is the “Volunteering Action Plan,” the result of close collaboration between the Technical Delegates of Volunteering in the local, regional and national levels, currently under review and subsequent approval.
In the text we find three objectives designed to summarize the concretization of the Policy:
- Implement tools to promote the culture of Volunteering, through new models and collaborations, including with other National Societies, that can incorporate professionalism and availability. Among the new forms of participation proposed, we find, for example, “Project-based Volunteering.”
- Building an inclusive Italian Red Cross able to improve the collection, systematization and use of its Volunteers’ data in a strategic way. Knowing how to properly collect, manage and interpret the personal information of Volunteers can be crucial to better understand association life, be inclusive and reflect when someone decides to give up Volunteering. Analyzing recurring motivations can help us prevent and act where needed;
- Identify strategies for engaging, recognizing, and valuing Volunteers through inclusive communication that respects uniqueness, recognizes the value of the individual, and monitors the progress of association life.
- With regard to safety, including the physical safety of Volunteers, Italian Red Cross, adopted a “Guideline on the Protection of the Safety and Health of Volunteers” in 2017; the document was revised in 2018 and 2023, and it aligns with Italian regulations, particularly Legislative Decree No. 81 of 2008, in defining volunteer rights/duties regarding health and safety. This guideline regulates standards, responsibilities, data management, preventive measures, and training activities related to volunteer safety and health. It promotes a culture of health, safety and accident prevention across all activities and interventions.
Volunteers have a right to periodic health assessments, specific diagnostic exams/vaccinations based on their activities, with data privacy protection.
The Guideline also establishes safety roles like “safety officers” among volunteers to oversee and implement regulations, akin to workplace safety roles. Comprehensive training (different depending on the target audience and the tasks performed) is mandatory for all Volunteers on health/safety, risk scenarios, equipment use etc. to enable them to protect themselves and others.
Italian Red Cross has a robust safety framework with clear policies, assigned roles, health provisions, mandatory training and an embedded culture of prevention to safeguard the well-being of volunteers across all operations.
In a National Society like the Italian Red Cross, where the Volunteer also corresponds to the “Member”, all strategic direction is handled by the Volunteer component. The Governing Boards of the local, regional and national Committees are made up exclusively of Volunteers, and the coordination of the various areas is entrusted to Delegates who are, again, exclusively Volunteers. Within this framework, health and safety management is also in the hands of trained and competent Volunteers, supported by staff.
- With the aim of coordinating and monitoring the area, as well as constantly updating the Guideline, the National Technical-Operational Working Group for Volunteer health and safety activities is trained by three Volunteers (a referee, a doctor and a national health and safety trainer).
- An additional tool the National Society uses to ensure and act on the safety of Volunteers is its Insurance System. This is a regulatory obligation and a form of protection for Volunteers and beneficiaries, including in case of accidents. Every year, thanks to the membership fee paid by all Volunteer Members, Italian Red Cross takes out two types of insurance policies;
- The insurance against accidents and illnesses related to the performance of volunteer activities;
- The “certificate of liability insurance,” to cover personal injury and property damage as a result of an action or service toward third parties.
Every activity, carried out by the Volunteers of the Italian Red Cross, in accordance with the methods of performance and activation provided by the Internal Guidelines, is protected through these insurance policies.
- Italian Red Cross has made extra efforts to protect the welfare of the Volunteers. With regard to the psychological aspects of the activities, also handled within the training courses, Italian Red Cross has established a Psychosocial Support Service, later joined by a free Telephone Psychological Service.
Italian Red Cross Volunteers include mental health professionals who offer psychological support services in traumatic and emergency situations, addressing both citizens and Volunteers facing certain activities. The free psychological support of the Italian Red Cross offers help and listening to anyone who is facing a moment of difficulty or discomfort related to the psychological, emotional and relational sphere with the aim of helping people improve their quality of life.
Italian Red Cross’ commitment to promoting the well-being of Volunteers
Raising awareness of the activities carried out by the Italian Red Cross, also comes to life through close relationship with international organizations.
- Between 2021 and 2023, Italian Red Cross carried out support and cooperation activities for the development of Volunteering in some National Societies, including Benin, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ethiopia, Macedonia, Panama, Peru, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic and Russia. Specific webinars have been organized for the purpose of discussing Volunteer management and the emerging needs of Volunteers around the world.
- There have been many opportunities for participation and collaboration with the Global Volunteering Alliance, including the project called “Volunteering Learning Program,” which enabled a constructive relationship with more than 80 National Societies of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, organizing opportunities for exchange on strategic management and development of Volunteering.
- The relationship with ENDOV (European Network on the Development of Volunteering) also continues: it is the forum at which National Societies of the Movement share experiences and good practices, also finding space to reflect on critical issues and propose new projects.
- Italian Red Cross is an active member at IAVE (International Association for Volunteering), the global Association that deals with the promotion of Volunteering, seen as a way to address social challenges, boost sustainable development and encourage civic participation.
- Collaboration with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is close and ongoing. Last June, “The IFRC Global Innovation Summit” was held in Kenya, with the aim of sharing and telling innovative project proposals in Volunteer activities. Thanks to the fruitful collaboration with the “Solferino Academy,” Italian Red Cross took part in the initiative and narrated its Volunteer experience. Through the voices of Italian Volunteers, participants were able to learn about the approach to disability using theater and the most original ideas to engage younger people during the pandemic and try to fight loneliness.
- In 2023 CRI took part in the EXPO AID in Rimini, the institutional event organized by the Ministry for Disabilities, which involved the world of the Third Sector and Italian Associations. The aim was to share experiences and talk about the full implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, the participation in the social, political and civic life of every person, and the enhancement of everyone’s talents and skills. The event provided an important opportunity to reflect on the Italian Red Cross’ relationship with disability: in this area, the humanitarian mission is addressed both externally and internally, thanks to the National Society Volunteers with Disabilities, who offer their valuable time to help the community.
- Reflection on the development of Volunteering has moved the basis of the work on the theme of motivation, the understanding and monitoring of which is at the heart of Volunteer choice and well-being. The themes of recognition, sense of belonging, inclusion and involvement are the key points of the project launched in 2022, which saw the administration of an experimental questionnaire, aimed at implementing a kind of “screening” of the motivational aspects experienced by Volunteers, in order to reflect on any critical issues, strategies and methods of approach.
Motivational drives to Volunteering can be multiple and may reflect changes in society, time management, relational modes and new technologies. Comprehending the trends in these aspects can help us understand what attracted the Volunteer and what might help him stay.
The “Volunteer Motivation and Wellbeing Questionnaire” has been given to many Volunteers, and this pilot project is set to become a tool for monitoring the motivation and lives of Volunteers in Committees