Strengthening voluntary social work ranks high on the Danish government agenda and in October 2010 the Danish government presented a new strategy for the civil society. The aim is to involve the civil society and voluntary organizations more systematically in the field of socially vulnerable people and families.
The strategy is financed by 100 million Danish kroner from public funding.
The implementation of the civil society strategy will involve stakeholders, including relevant voluntary organizations, local government organizations and private sector organizations.
Objectives
The strategy has the following objectives:
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A civil society that contributes to strengthening early, preventive social action.
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A civil society that is proactive and can make contact with citizens who can not be reached by the public sector.
An enhanced investment in civil society that contributes to continued innovation and development in social work.
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A volunteer culture where it is natural to be involved actively in the Danish society.
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A diverse civil society based on the development of citizenship, with room for everyone who wants to make a voluntary effort.
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A civil society that works across fields such as social affairs, health, housing, integration, employment, school and sports to tackle social issues.
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A civil society that works with the public sector and private industry to solve social problems, thereby creating new synergies in the cooperation.
Action points
The strategy contains 13 initiatives under the following four target areas:
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Strengthened innovation and development in social action
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Promoting active citizenship and volunteering culture
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Strengthened voluntary organizations
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Strengthened cooperation between sectors
Facts about voluntary work in Denmark
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About 35 % of the Danish population performs voluntary unpaid work in the fields of sports, politics, social work, etc.
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In the social area some 300,000 people regularly carry out voluntary social work, corresponding to 6 % of the Danish population.
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The value of voluntary work in Denmark equals 9,6 % of the gross domestic product (GDP) (around 134 billion Danish kroner).
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About 5000 organisations operate in the voluntary social sector areas.
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Examples of volunteer initiatives to redress problems for people in difficult life situations are advice services, telephone lines, self-help projects and volunteer centres.
Legislation
Section 18 in the Act on Social Services requires local authorities to cooperate with the voluntary social organisations and societies and to allocate an annual amount in support of voluntary social work.
The government and the local authorities have signed an agreement on financial compensation in the form of an extra general grant (block grant) for the local authorities. The government compensation totals around DKK 150 million annually (2011 figure) “on the condition” that the local authorities spend these funds to support voluntary social work.
The local authorities must provide information on their cooperation with voluntary social organisations and their support to voluntary social work. The information must be submitted once a year before 1 April to the Ministry of Social Affairs or the party appointed by the ministry to perform the task.
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