At this moment, ten matches between associations and socially responsible companies have been made on the volontiraj.ba service.
The volontiraj.ba service was created as a product of the initiative “Improving Human Rights Corporate Accountability in BiH” which, with the financial support of the European Union, is implemented by the Institute for Youth Development KULT with the aim of connecting associations with companies through corporate volunteering. The volontiraj.ba service started operating during the pandemic. During the first year of operation, 84 associations were registered on the one hand and 31 companies on the other.
As a result of a large number of interested users of the volontiraj.ba service, ten corporate volunteering programs have been developed. EESTEC LC Sarajevo, the Medical Students’ Association in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Association of Secondary School Students in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Center for Civic Cooperation Livno, the Center for education and lifelong learning AGORA, the Foundation for Support and Development of Mentoring Programs “Older Brother, Older Sister”, BoHeMSa LC Tuzla and the Land of Peace Association participated. On the other hand, socially responsible companies such as Alaya International, Studio Granap, CasCader Production, Marriott Residence Inn Sarajevo, Association for Language and Culture Linguists, Tershouse Coworking Space BiH, Project Adam, Studio GD48 and Materijali d.o.o. have shown their contribution to the community and associations.
The result of the corporate volunteering program in which Materijali doo and the Association of Secondary School Students in Bosnia and Herzegovina were paired was painting the Association’s premises, while on the other hand the relationship between Tershouse Coworking Space BiH and the Medical Students’ Association in Bosnia and Herzegovina was reflected in professional and mentoring assistance in developing medical student podcast titled Anamneza/Anamnesis.
It is interesting to point out that the company Marriott Residence Inn Sarajevo offered the services of using their premises and mentoring assistance to the association EESTEC LC Sarajevo during the next 12 months, which further facilitated and enabled the implementation of the activities of the association. Project Adam enabled the creation of a completely new and sophisticated web platform for advertising of the Center for Civic Cooperation Livno, which enabled greater visibility and new recognition of the association. A long-term mentoring program was developed at the corporate activity of Alaya International and EESTEC LC Sarajevo, in which electrical engineering students could get acquainted with technological discoveries and the way companies work. CasCader Production offered BoHeMS LC Tuzla to record and edit an episode about the importance of vaccines in the 21st century with the respected prof. Dr. Mirsada Hukić.
Our corporate volunteering programs were attended by 23 corporate volunteers who worked more than 369 hours. A wide range of different activities and needs of the associations resulted in a total financial value of 16,700 BAM realized in the form of volunteer work and delivery of the final product by our corporate volunteers.
The year behind us proves that corporate volunteering in Bosnia and Herzegovina is possible and that it has a huge potential that we must all develop together in the years ahead. The volontiraj.ba service will continue to be a link between associations and socially responsible companies in the years to come.
The initiative to promote and advocate corporate volunteering, developed by the Institute for Youth Development KULT in cooperation with the Association of Employers of FBiH, is funded by the European Union, with the aim to promote the principles of business and human rights in BiH. At the same time, we want to launch a political and institutional dialogue on the development of a state agenda on business and human rights.
