Italy: The voluntary sector to become socially accountable

The voluntary sector must be socially accountable and have it?s own system for drawing up social balance?s. This is the intention that lies behind a roadmap that was presented on the 1st of Feburary by Csv.net (Italy?s volunteer services network), Iref (the institute for educational research) and Feo-Fivol (the European foundation for employment and volunteering).

The roadmap, that includes the guidelines that voluntary organisations should follow when drawing up a social balance for their activities, will be tested during 2008 and aims to become a formal procedure by 2009. Today, less than 18% of all volunteer organisations in Italy carry out social accounting; a study carried out in 2007 showed that more than 50% of organisations would like to but didn?t know how.

Marco Granelli, Csv.net director, explains that throughout 2008 12 Csv centres will provide free counselling services to volunteering organisations who wish to learn about social accountability. During the first phase of the programme about 100 organisations will be involved.

?Accountability is meant as a means of becoming more transparent from the outside?, adds Granelli, who also highlights that it is becoming more and more important to become financially transparent, a fact that is proved by the fact that there has been a 22% decrease in public funding towards volunteer organisations in 2007.

More info:
www.csvnet.it