At its 17^th sitting, held in Novi Sad, the Committee on Labour, Ex-Servicemen’s and Social Issues discussed the Bill on Volunteer Work in principle. The sitting, chaired by the Committee Chairman, Meho Omerovic, was attended by State Secretary Snezana Lakicevic Stojacic and head of the Labour and Labour Rights Group Jasenka Cvorov from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, as well as the Provincial Secretary for Labour, Employment and Gender Equality Miroslav Vasin, and representatives of the Novi Sad Humanitarian Centre, “Civic Initiative”, “Friends of Children, Zemun”, “Young Researchers of Serbia” and UNDP Serbia.

Welcoming the deputies and guests, Meho Omerovic said that the Committee sitting was held outside of the National Assembly seat in line with the Committee’s 2009 Activity Programme, with the support of the UN Development Programme, and added that the domestic non-government non-profit organisation Novi Sad Humanitarian Centre had been chosen as the host due to its vast experience with working with volunteers and active approach to promotion and improvement of conditions of volunteer work.

The discussion following the opening address of the representative of the submitters of the law, gave voice to various objections and suggestions to the Bill from both the deputies and guests. The representatives of the non-government sector did not deny the fact that the law needed to be passed, but expressed reservations that excessive standardisation of volunteer work would detract from the submitters’ good intentions, considering that it is primarily present in organisations of lesser financial standing and is based on the principle of voluntariness. Therefore, the Committee concluded that another public hearing is necessary to discuss the Bill on Volunteer Work, after which the deputies would vote on the proposed document in principle.