by Anna Belousova

15 January 2009

On December 4th, volunteers polled the public regarding their opinions about volunteerism and persons with disabilities. Around 110 visitors to an exhibition, as well as ordinary passers-by outside the venue, told us about their understanding of the idea of volunteering.

In answer to the first question, whether they were familiar with the term “volunteer”, 74% of respondents said they know what this word means in its modern interpretation, i.e. someone who works and/or provides services without looking for financial reward. More than half of them – 55 people – also have first-hand experience with volunteering.

The gender-sensitive results of the poll show that the proportional representation of women who volunteered exceeds that of men, 59% and 46% respectively.

In response to the question “Would you be interested in dedicating some of your time to volunteering?”, 74% of women and 67% of men said they would be willing to spend between 1 hour and 1 day per week on volunteer projects: as shown on chart 4*, the majority of men (40%) would rather offer 1 hour of their time weekly, whereas women are ready to devote a whole day (25%).

Slightly more than one third of the respondents did not agree that adoption of relevant legislation might have a significant impact on the level of voluntary activism, whereas 63% thought that appropriate changes in legislation would help to develop the volunteer movement in Ukraine.

In order to better inform the population about volunteerism, people suggested that the most effective information channels would be: television (37%), Internet (21%), radio (15%) and print media (16%). Other suggested ways of mobilising volunteers included: outreach work with students, training, corporate volunteering and friends’ experience.

* To see charts in better resolution please click on the relevant image.