City moves to enhance and encourage volunteer services

Shanghai has drafted an amendment to its regulations regarding volunteer service to enhance the management and encouragement of such services.

The amendment, which is aimed at creating a unified platform that would enhance the registration, management and review of volunteer services, has been submitted to the municipal legislation for review.

Shanghai first issued its regulations on volunteer service in 2009 when the city was preparing for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. Volunteers have since been playing a significant role not only during major international events, but also in the daily management of the city.

For example, volunteers have been keenly involved in the city’s trash sorting campaign, helping authorities enforce the regulation in residential communities.

While the role of volunteers has expanded, registrations of such services are still performed on an ad-hoc basis, meaning that volunteers have to repeatedly register for duties. The introduction of a unified system for volunteer service will help to address this problem as well as allow them to offer, request and review such services with greater ease.

The amendment also aims to encourage more volunteering by offering those with good records preferential treatment in education, employment, medical care and public service.

Huo Xingyu contributed to this story.