The National Volunteering Week:
11-17 May 2009

Pro Vobis – the National Volunteer Center and the National Network of Volunteer Centers from Romania enthusiastically announce the launch of the National Volunteering Week, 2009 edition, which will take place between May 11th-17th. The NVW is a traditional national event aimed at mobilising as many volunteers as possible in order to contribute to the development of their communities and attract support from other members of the community as well. The 2009 edition of the NVW runs under the slogan "Express yourself through actions! Become a volunteer!" and it is financially supported by the European Union through the Youth in Action program, managed in Romania by ANPCDEFP. Further details in the press release (Romanian) or on the NVW website at www.voluntariat.ro/snv.htm.

April 2009

The institutional development of organisations that work with volunteers – selection results

After Pro Vobis – the National Volunteering Centre launched the project “The institutional development of organisations that work with volunteers”, financed by the European Union within the 2006 PHARE programme, in the period of February 3-18, 35 non-governmental organisations and one public institution registered for selection, by presenting a candidacy file. Following the examination, 19 non-governmental organisations and one public institution have been selected to benefit of the assistance included in this programme. The selected organisation are: ACCEPT Association, “House of Hope” Hospice (Hospice „Casa Speranţei”), Hercules Association, “For You” Foundation (Fundaţia „Pentru Voi”), Baylor – Black Sea Foundation (Fundaţia Baylor  - Marea Neagră), The Foundation for People Development (Fundaţia Dezvoltarea Popoarelor), The Romanian Anti-AIDS Association (Asociaţia Română Anti-SIDA), New Horizons Foundation (Fundaţia Noi Orizonturi), Princess Margarita of Romania Foundation (Fundaţia Principesa Margareta a României), Habitat for Humanity Romania, Mare Nostrum NGO, The National Scout Organisation of Romania (Organizaţia Naţională Cercetaşii României), Save the Children Organisation (Organizaţia Salvaţi Copiii), ECOTOP Foundation, Galati General Directorate for Social Assistance and Child Protection  (Direcţia Generală de Asistenţă Socială şi Protecţia Copilului Galaţi), Civil Society Development Association (Asociaţia pentru Dezvoltarea Societăţii Civile), Green Echoes Association (Asociaţia Ecouri Verzi), Pro Democracy Association – Cluj Branch, Estuar Foundation, Ratiu Romania Foundation (Fundaţia Raţiu pentru Democraţie). The next steps of the project include the drafting of a detailed analysis of the needs of the selected organisations; the first visit of the consultants assigned in each organisation, during which a strategic planning session of volunteer involvement in the organisation and a training session for volunteer coordinators in the selected organisations will be facilitated. The purpose of the project is to develop the capacity of beneficiary organisations to work with volunteers in a scheduled, efficient and professional manner. Within this project, selected organisations that constantly involve volunteers in their work will benefit of personalised consultancy and training, following an analysis of needs and according to specific methodology adapted after a Dutch model. For further information, please contact Pro Vobis – the National Volunteering Centre, Tel/Fax 0264-412897, e-mail provobis@provobis.ro, contact person Cristina Rigman, Project Coordinator.

February 2009

European Comission: 2011 will be the European Year of Volunteering!

Following an intense two and a half year campaign lead by an alliance of the main european civil society networks active in the field of volunteering, coordinated by CEV, the European Comission officially announced the start of the preparations for the European Year of Volunteering 2011. For more information visit www.cev.be.

February 2009

Pro Vobis launched "Volunteer Portraits" 2008, to mark the International Volunteer Day

Pro Vobis - the National Volunteering Center in Romania launched on Thursday December 4th, in Bucharest, the publication "Volunteer Potraits". The launch marked the International Volunteer Day, celebrated all around the world on December 5th ever since 1985, when the date was set following the General Assembly of the UN. The launching event was supported by the Infoeuropa Center belonging to the European Affairs Department of the Romanian Government.

"Volunteer Portraits" is a yearly publication issued by Pro Vobis, which now reached is second edition. This edition of the booklet was issued under the umbrella of a larger project - "Development of the volunteering infrastructure in Romania", financially supported by the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Netherlands through the MATRA programme. This year's edition encompasses 64 portraits of enthusiastic volunteers of all ages and from various fields, from all over the country, reflecting once again the diversity of people involved in voluntary work and the range of activities they carry out for the benefit of their commmunities. The volunteers present in the pages of the booklet were nominated by organisations throughout the country, following a public call. The booklet will be distributed free of charge in the country. The English version will be available in early 2009. Download the Romanian version here (PDF, 34 Mb)

December 2008

The National Conference ”Volunteering: Competences and their validation”, Cluj-Napoca, 2-4 Oct. 2008

Pro Vobis is launching an invitation to take part in the National Conference "Volunteering: Competences and their validation", Cluj-Napoca, 2-4 Oct. 2008. This years' Conference is being organised in collaboration with the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) from the Department of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences within Babes-Bolyai University. In this edition, the conference is inviting all relevant actors for a debate on an important topic for the volunteering movement in Romania: the competences acquired during volunteering activities and the process whereby these could be validated. Volunteering is nowadays very often present in public debates, more often in the context of non-formal education and its ability to help learn new skills and competences. However, volunteering activities are more or less acknowledged in formal education or as professional experience, as the present legislation in this field is rather superficial with respect to the competences acquired through volunteering and the ways in which these could be certified or validated. Participants at this years' Conference will have the opportunity to discuss these issues and to learn about validation procedures used in other european countries. The conference aims to serve as a consultation platform on this topic. For further details contact us at pr@provobis.ro.

September 2008

Nominate your volunteers now! The second edition of "Volunteer Portraits" is being launched.

Pro Vobis is inviting all Romanian organisation working with or through volunteers to propose a volunteer portrait for the second edition of the "Volunteer Portraits" brochure. Owing to the success of last year's brochure and the positive reactions we received, Pro Vobis decided to publish a second edition of the collection. The publication reflects the diversity of volunteers and their work throughout the country. This year's edition will encompass 30 portraits of some special people and their good deeds! As a novelty, the brochure will be available on paper as well as in electronic format, both in Romanian as well as English version. To view last year's edition (in Romanian only), click here. If you are working with volunteers dedicated to their work, whose work and help you would like to acknowledge publicly, we invite you to use this opportunity to nominate them. Contact voluntar@provobis.ro. The deadline is Friday Nov. 7 2008.

October 2008

The first success in declaring the year 2011 as the European Year of Volunteering

On the 15th of July 2008, the European Parliament adopted with 454 signatures a Declaration which requests the European Commission to declare the year 2011 the European Year of Volunteering. The appeal is also supported by other European institutions, as well as 17 european networks consisting of organisations working with volunteers. The initiative, coordinated by CEV - the European Centre for Volunteering, aims at bringing volunteering among the priorities on the european agenda and at elaborating coherent policies for encouraging and supporting the development of volunteerism, both at EU level as well as within member countries. European data shows that 3 out of 10 europeans are volunteering and that 80% of UE's population perceive an active involvement in a community's social life as being a crucial factor for democracy. Pro Vobis - the National Volunteer Center in Romania took part, along with other similar organisations from Europe, in the effort to obtain support from local MPs for this Declaration. Thus, 22 out of the 35 Romanian MPs signed the Declaration, ranking Romania among the countries which supported the innitiative with signatures from more than half of their representatives in the European Parliament. See here the press release launched in Bruxelles and the overall signature count in the member states.

July 2008

The first batch of elderly volunteers arrives within the project ”Think Future! Volunteer Together!”

On June the 2nd the first batch of elderly volunteers participating in the international exchange program arrived in Romania (Cluj-Napoca) within the frames of the "Think Future! Volunteer Together!" project undertaken by Pro Vobis in collaboration with other 4 European countries. The first batch of elderly volunteers is represented by 4 volunteers from Slovenia who were sent by our partner organisation - Slovenska Filantropija. The volunteers will spend 2 weeks in Romania, during which they will visit several NGOs where they will participate in volunteering activities alongside Romanian volunteers, young and elderly alike. During the same period, 4 Romanian volunteers participate in Slovenia in a similar exhange based on the participation in volunteering activities through which elderly volunteers have the opportunity to get to know the country, the culture and the history of the country where the exchange is taking place, but also to get involved actively, through volunteering, in the communities they are visiting. The Project "Think future! Volunteer Together!" is run by Pro Vobis over a period of 2 years and is being financed by the European Union. The project is a partnership between Italy, Romania, Slovenia, Hungary and Slovakia.

June 2008

The campaign for declaring 2011 as the European Year of Volunteering

Starting with the month of May, a campaign initiated by The European Volunteer Center will take place in the whole of Europe, regarding the declaration of the year 2011 as the European Year of Volunteering. The proposal is based on a series of documents from various european institutions, which recognize the contribution brought by volunteering to the development of communities and their citizens, and which encourage increasing the support for the development of volunteering as a form of active citizenship in Europe - a support which authorities should offer at national, regional and local level. Mrs. Marian Harkin, Irish member of the European Parliament, initiated a Declaration of the European Parliament through which the European Commission is asked to rule the year 2011 as the European Year of Volunteering. So far the declaration has been signed by a number of 206 MEPs, among which 5 Romanian MEPs. In order to be adopted, the Declaration for the support of volunteering still requires the signatures of other 190 MEPs until July 9th. Pro Vobis, along with other national and regional volunteer centers in Europe, takes an active role in this campaign by informing the Romanian MEPs about this initiative and its importance for the development of volunteering in Romania. The year 2011 will mark the anniversary of 10 years that passed since the International Year of Volunteering, celebrated in 2001 at the initiative of UN.  

May 2008

Explore new frontiers: Volunteer positions in Africa and Asia, for Romanian professionals!

The National Volunteer Week 2008 brings more opportunities for you: Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), an UK-based organisation with 50 years' experience in sending volunteers to developing countries, in partnership with Pro Vobis, have launched during NVW a recruitment campaign among Romanian professionals! The offer is directed at qualified persons with a minimum of 2-3 years of work experience in various fields, and who are willing to work for 1-2 years for the benefit of disadvantaged communities in Africa and Asia which need their energy and skills. The recruitment campaign has its own webpage - www.voluntariat.ro/vso - a place where one can find all the necessary information for becoming a VSO volunteer. Visit the website here and read all the details!

April 2008

”Think Future! Volunteer Together!”: International volunteer exchanges for elderly people

Pro Vobis, in partnership with Rome Regional Volunteer Center (SPES) and the European Volunteer Center (CEV), have launched the international project "Think Future. Volunteer Together", aimed at volunteering among the elderly. The project is meant to promote the active participation of elderly persons (above 55 years of age) as volunteers in general interest activities for their community. The proposed activities within the project include: promoting the involvement of elderly persons in volunteering activities and an international exhange program between the 5 countries participating in the program (Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia). A number of 32 exchanges will take place, through which 100 endelry volunteers will be involved. The exchanges will consist of short-term trips in the partner countries, where the volunteers will be hosted by NGOs where they will participate in volunteering activities along with other elderly volunteers from the host country. At their return in their home country, the elderly volunteers, now promotors of volunteerism, will have the opportunity to implement the abilities gained during these international exchanges, by running small volunteering projects funded from the project's budget. Those interested are requested to contact Pro Vobis National Volunteer Center, contact person Ramona Dragomir, tel. 0264-412 897, 0755-045 103, pr@provobis.ro.

May 2008

Romania celebrates its National Volunteering Week!

During the week of April 14-20, Romania celebrates the National Volunteering Week! The event takes place in 39 locations around the country and represents the highlight of the National Campaign for Promoting Volunteering "It's time to be different!", launched by Pro Vobis in November 2007. Under the umbrella of NVW, NGOs, public institutions, companies and other partner groups from the entire country are involved in ecological activities, debates, training sessions, local volunteering promotion campaigns, marches, exhibitions and fairs, competitions, theater plays, shows and other activities. NVW is a national event intended to emphasize the contribution that volunteers bring to the development of their communities and to attract support for the volunteering movement. The NVW is an event initiated and managed by Pro Vobis since 2002, and implemented in partnership with the National Network of Volunteer Centers and other local partners of the NVW. Further information about the event is available on www.voluntariat.ro. During the seven days of this Week, each of us has got the opportunity to show that he/she can take responsability, wants to and IS DIFFERENT! Take a look at what's happening in your town during NVW!

April 2008

Over 10.000 visitors on our volunteering portal, www.voluntariat.ro!!

Relaunched in December 2007, with a new design and a much more dynamical form, the www.voluntariat.ro portal managed to attract up to the start of the National Volunteer Week 2008 over 10.000 visitors! Thank you all, your interest in the portal shows everyone, once again, that volunteering matters, is cherished and supported by more and more people in Romania!

April 2008

START: The National Volunteer Week, 14-20 April 2008

The month of March brings closer to each of us a new opportunity to be different: The National Volunteer Week (NVW), 2008. This year the NVW is being held during the week of 14-20 April and brings a plus of dynamism to the National Campaign to Promote Volunteering, under whose umbrella it is taking place. The NVW is the time when all of us have the chance to put our ideas into practice and to show our desire to be different: active, concerned, responsible, involved, in one word - VOLUNTEERS! During the NVW public volunteering activities, competitions, exhibitions, training and informative sessions will take place and lots of other activities with, for and about volunteers. If you are someone who believes that small gestures matter and can change things, if you are part of an organisation, institution, campaign or simply any initiative group, we invite you to join the NVW partners from around the country and the thousands of volunteers of all ages. Contact the NVW organisers at programe@provobis.ro or 0264 - 412897 and we will offer you information and suggestions to put your ideas into practice. Download here the launcing announcement of the National Volunteer Week and find out more!

March 2008

Pro Vobis offered a volunteer management training session to NGOs from Cyprus

A team of Pro Vobis trainers conducted during Jan. 31-Febr. 4 2008 a training session on volunteer and volunteer program management to representatives of NGOs working with volunteers in Cyprus. The training session was organised by Management Center of the Mediterranean for 18 representatives of organisations that involve volunteers in the northern part of Cyprus. The training consisted of 8 sessions which followed the basic steps of the volunteer management process. The tools and content rich in real-life, practical examples were very much appreciated by the participants.

February 2008

The National Campaign for the Promotion of Volunteering “It’s time to be different!”

Pro Vobis launched the National Campaign for the Promotion of Volunteering “It’s time to be different!”. The campaign is a communication exercise on various channels, aimed at various target groups and supported by a series of informative events and volunteering activities organized in various locations in Romania. The tag line of the campaign is “It’s time to be different! Noble deeds are not for money”. The campaign will run between November 2007 and April 2008, throughout the country, and it is supported by Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe and The C.S. Mott Foundation. You can also join the campaign by organizing local events and volunteering activities under the campaign’s headlines. If you would like to join the campaign, download here the Partnership Offer or contact the Pro Vobis team! Be different! Join us in this campaign!

December 2007

The re-launch of www.voluntariat.ro

On the 5th of December 2007, Pro Vobis relaunched the www.voluntariat.ro portal in a new format and a new design. The website is a valuable resource for all those interested in volunteering issues, with general information on volunteerism in Romania and world wide, as well as specific information for current and potential volunteers, volunteer managers, NGOs and institutions working with volunteers, companies, donors, sponsors and mass-media. The portal contains several sections, with one dedicated to volunteering in general and the other dedicated to the National Campaing for Promoting Volunteering "It's time to be different!". Two other sections will be soon developed, one section for the National Volunteer Week and the other one for the National Network of Volunteer Centers. We value your opinion! Please visit www.voluntariat.ro and tell us what you think! Thank you!

December 2007

The launch of “Volunteer Portraits”

Pro Vobis celebrated the International Volunteer Day, December 5th 2007, by launching “Volunteer Portraits”, a publication issued under the auspices of the National Campaign for the Promotion of Volunteering - “It’s time to be different!”. The material encompasses 40 portraits of volunteers, volunteering in various domains and locations in Romania. The publication describes the activity of these volunteers, things that they have learned during their work as volunteers, as well as what their colleagues or beneficiaries have to say about their contribution. “Volunteer Portraits” is an instrument meant to clarify questions regarding who volunteers are and what they do in Romania, while also representing a public thank you note for the work of these volunteers. The publication will be distributed for free during the events organized under the auspices of the “It’s time to be different!” campaign. See here the contents page of the publication. For more information and orders, please contact Pro Vobis at tel./fax 0264 412897, e-mail pr@provobis.ro, contact person – Ramona Dragomir, Communication Assistant.

December 2007

Pro Vobis - the National Volunteer Center is pleased to invite you to attend the National Conference "Volunteering: Beyond Concept", taking place in Cluj Napoca between 18-20 Nov. 2007. This year's conference follows the tradition of our national conferences on volunteering, offering its participants the opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences in the field of volunteering. Moreover, this year's edition allots a special space for academic lectures, which approach volunteering from wider conceptual perspectives, stemming from more recent theoretical developments in the social sciences. Another innovative element of this year's edition is the open sessions which will take place, during which participants will have a chance to bring ideas and proposals for the remodeling of two traditional events for the promotion of volunteering: the National Volunteer Week and the International Volunteer Day. For Pro Vobis, this year's conference marks its 15th year of activity in the Romanian NGO field and its 10th year of work towards the promotion and development of volunteering! We invite you to join us during these moments, in order to take another step together towards a stronger and more stable volunteering movement in Romania!

October 2007

Friday, Oct. 19th 2007, Bucharest Volunteer Center officially opened its gates, in the presence of Mr. Prefect Catalin Deaconescu, also the first volunteer to sign a volunteering contract with the new center. "Honestly, I miss volunteering. When I was about 18-19 years old I was also a volunteer. As about this center, it was awaited, it was necessary!", Mr. Deaconescu declared. The center's launch was enthusiastically received by everybody present at the event, who offered their support and declared their readiness for future collaboration, as well as their willingness to become volunteers. The Bucharest Volunteer Center presented its services and the steps which are going to be taken for developing a network of organizations and institutions active in the local community, as well as for the improvement of the perception of volunteers and volunteering among authorities and companies in Bucharest. Among its main services are volunteer recruiting, training and consultancy for a more professional approach of working with volunteers, organizing of volunteer promotion & acknowledgement events, and developing volunteer programs through various partnerships, for the betterment of the local community. The Bucharest Volunteer Center is initiated and supported by Pro Vobis, and it is also part of the National Network of Volunteer Centers in Romania.

October 2007

Pro Vobis attended the training session ”Promoting Active Participation and Volunteering”, organized by the Civic Involvement Movement (www.cemo.ro), from Targu Mures. The participants were representatives of  youth-oriented NGOs which intend to develop or already have in place volunteering and volunteer promotion programs. The training program was financially supported by the Council of Europe/Youth in Action Program. Pro Vobis held, during a day and a half, the volunteer management part of the training, and answered the participants’ questions on this topic.

October 2007

Three representatives from Pro Vobis undertook a study visit to Budapest, to the National Volunteer Center of Hungary (www.onkentes.hu). The visit was occasioned by our attendance to the General Meeting of the European Volunteer Center (www.cev.be), of which both organizations are members. The discussions revolved around three topics of common interest: the services and programs offered by the volunteer centers on a national scale and their involvement on a local scale; research on volunteerism; available financial resources after adhering to the European Union. The discussions carried out were extremely useful for the Pro Vobis team, which now has more ideas and instruments to help adapt to the changes brought about by Romania’s adhering to EU to the NGO environment. The visit highlighted the similarities between Romania and Hungary regarding the volunteer movement and the problems faced by volunteer centers at both local as well as national level.

September 2007

Between 17-20 of July 2007, a new meeting of the Romanian Volunteer Center Network took place in Eforie-Nord. The participating centers were Cluj, Bucuresti, Craiova, Slatina, Oradea, Iasi, Constanta, Simeria, Resita, and Vladesti. During the course of the first day, the centers introduced their current projects and the activities carried out in the past months. Topics under focus were the representativity of the network on a national level, minimal standards for a volunteer center, current projects carried out by Pro Vobis in collaboration with the network, common events, the national Volunteer Week report for 2007. Pro Vobis proposed a workshop for strategic planning, which indeed took place in the following days, and which resulted into the drafting of a common vision declaration and strategic directions for the network’s activity for 2007-2010.

July 2007

The Pro Vobis team took part in a team building session organized in Cheile Gradistei. The session is part of a wider project of organizational development, supported by USAID through the RCSS program implemented by World Learning for International Development. The team building session gave opportunity to Pro Vobis team members to debate strategy and image issues of the organization, to evaluate the activity carried out by the organization in the first half of this year, and to plan activities for the second half. Apart from time allotted to work, special activities focused on networking between team members and strengthening of their motivation to work for Pro Vobis.

July 2007

The 2007 edition of the National Volunteer Week (NVW) took place at the end of the month of April, with the International Earth Day marking its beginning. This year, NVW was celebrated in Romania in 28 localities from 17 counties. For the first time, the event was celebrated in the capital as well, through the collaboration between the Prefecture of Bucharest, Pro Vobis National Volunteer Center, the Sector 3 Mayor House and Centras. The local volunteer centers in Cluj-Napoca, Constanta, Craiova, Iasi, Medias, Oradea, Resita, Satu-Mare, Simeria, Sibiu, Slatina, Turda and Vladesti, along with other NGOs and partner public institutions organized various events focused on drawing attention to the importance of volunteering: debates, exhibitions, competitions, workshops, volunteering promotion campaigns, volunteer work acknowledgement events, social theater performances, forum theater shows. All these were offered both to volunteers as well as beneficiaries of volunteer programs. The NVW was also celebrated in counties were there are no volunteer centers present, as Alba, Brasov, Bistrita-Nasaud, Galati, Mehedinti, Neamt and Prahova, where partner NGOs got the local community involved. One of the traditional events associated with the NVW, the volunteering offers fair, VoluntExpo, was organized din Alba-Iulia, Cluj-Napoca, Craiova, Iasi and Slatina, bringing together over 100 NGOs which displayed their volunteering opportunities to those interested.

April 2007

Friday, February 16th, at the residence of His Excellence, Mr. Robert Burnett, The Ambassador of Great Britain in Bucharest, took place the Award Ceremony for Best Annual Reports Issued by Non-governmental Organizations in Romania, event organized by the Donors' Forum in Romania. Different Annual Reports issued by Romanian NGOs from various fields were awarded during the ceremony. During the event, the Award for Best Reflection of Volunteering Activities in an Annual Report was granted. This Award was initiated by Pro Vobis - The National Volunteering Centre, in 2003. This year, the award consisting of 300 EURO, was granted to the organization Habitat for Humanity Cluj-Napoca.

March 2007

At the Award Ceremony for Community Involvement organized by the Cluj-Napoca Volunteering Centre, the CS Mott Foundation was awarded as Financer of the Year 2006, for the constant support offered to the development of volunteering in Romania, since 2000. The CS Mott Foundation was nominated for this contest by Pro Vobis - The National Volunteering Centre, which has managed, over the past 6 years, to significantly contribute to the promotion and development of volunteering in Romania, by implementing programs that were financially supported by the CS Mott Foundation. Among the successes obtained with the support of the CS Mott Foundation we can mention the 6 editions of the National Volunteer Week that were organized in Romania. The CS Mott Foundation continues to support the development of volunteerism in Romania in the next 2 years, by supporting the services offered by Pro Vobis.

December 2006

In perioada 22-28 aprilie 2007 va avea loc editia a 7-a a Saptamanii Nationale a Voluntariatului! SNV este un eveniment despre, cu si pentru voluntari care doreste sa evidentieze impactul implicarii voluntarilor atat la nivelul comunitatilor in care activeaza, cat si la nivelul organizatiilor si institutiilor care ii gazduiesc. In cadrul SNV 2007 vor avea loc numeroase activitati cu si pentru voluntari! Pro Vobis va alcatui si in acest an calendarul national al activitatilor SNV! Inscrieti-va activitatile locale in acest calendar scriind despre ele la adresa programe@provobis.ro. Echipa Pro Vobis va sta la dispozitie cu idei, sfaturi si sprijin in organizarea SNV la nivel local! Vom reveni in curand cu mai multe detalii.

martie 2007

Starting in July 2006, Pro Vobis is implementing a 12-month project focused on the development of our organization. The project is supported by USAID/World Learning through the "Romanian Civil Society Strengthening" program. The project aims interventions in the 6 areas of organizational consolidation: government, operations and management systems, human resources, financial resources, services and programs, external relations and advocacy, so as to strengthen the organizational capacity of Pro Vobis to contribute to the promotion and development of volunteering in Romania. Among the main results of the project we can count the organization internal manual, based on the specifics of a Volunteer Centre, which will be offered to other Volunteer Centres in Romania so as to facilitate their organizational development with the support of Pro Vobis.

August 2006

Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu meted today at Victoria Palace with the representative of 33 nongovernmental organizations invited to be a part of The College for Consulting Association and Foundations. Discussions focused on how this forum works and on European founds allocated to Romania after UE integration are absorbed. Prime Minister showed in his intervention that the purpose of the College is to create an efficient mechanism to communicate between civil society and Government. “We want to assume some of your initiative, to collaborate on the success model applied until now in the usage of governmental founds for publicity and legislation regarding public acquisitions”, the Prime Minister said. Representatives from nongovernmental organizations appreciate that by this initiative will be able to contribute at the Government public politics formulation. Some of them underlined that the forum organizing must be cogitated that it won’t create problems in nongovernmental organizations functioning. Starting from the guest considerations, Prime Minister proposed that the manner of organization to be modified considering the point of view of nongovernmental organizations. “The College represents a consultative organism, which will ensure civil society participation at the public politics elaboration and at debates regarding important subjects to Romanian society”, also pointed the Executive leader.

April 2006

Monday, 27th February 2006, at Cotroceni Palace, "Unirii" Hall, under high parochial of his Excellency, Mr. Traian Basescu, the President of Romania, took place the awarding for “The Best annual rapports for nongovernmental organizations in Romania”. This event, organized by Romania’s Donnors Forum, offers awards for the best annual rapports acomplished by small, medium and large NGOs, and mentions for the rapports that mark out trough an important aspect: recording a progress from one year to another, creativity, design and financial rapports. Starting with 2003 there was offered an award for the rapport with the clearest reflection over the volunteering activity, initiated and sponsored by Pro Vobis- National Center of Volunteering. This year, for the 4th edition we acquired the following awards: - Counseling Bureau for Citizens (BCC) Cluj Napoca- the award for the best annual rapport realized by small NGOs valuing 800 Euro from Raiffeisen Bank; - Alpha Transilvania Foundation- the award for the best annual rapport realized by medium and large NGOs valuing 100 Euro from Leadership Development Solutions. At the category for the best reflection over the volunteering activity rapport there were three nominalizations: Salvat,i Copii, BCC Cluj Napoca, and Phoenix Sperant,a Asociaciation. This award was initiated from the desire to stimulate the organizations to admit the value of volunteering work trough integrating them in their annual rapports. From various reasons, the jury decided not to give the prize and use its value for editing publications concerning this fact and including a section regarding the reflection of volunteering activity in training modules offered by the Donors Forum on this theme. A first electronic version of this brochure will be available since April. We encourage everyone that can help us with suggestions and observations, models and examples of reflecting volunteering, not to hesitate to contact us. At the end, we thank everyone present at the event and especially Mr. President Traian Basescu that assured the participants that Presidential Administration will continue to give all its support to civil society

February 2006

The National Volunteer Week (NVW) received the award for the Best Public volunteering Campaign at the National Contest for Social Involvement "People for People" held in Bucharest on December 6th 2005. This award signifies the recognition of our five years efforts in organizing and promoting the event at the national level. It also means a huge "Thank you!" for the International Volunteer Day (December 5th) to all the volunteers, volunteer centers, organizations, institutions, sponsors and donors and to all those who have participated or supported NVW over time. This award is at the same time a commitment to continue our efforts for promotion and recognition of volunteerism and obliges us to more enthusiastic and dedicated work in the years to come!

December 2005

Launching the project ?Developing Corporate Social Responsibility? in Cluj September 29th 2005 On September 29th 2005 was launched in Cluj the project for ?Developing Corporate Social Responsbility? during a meeting hosted by City Plaza Hotel. The project is implemented by Pro Vobis in collaboration with the company Uniconnect and the Association for Community Relations. The project aims to bring together the companies in Cluj area that wish to engage at community level by creating the frame for and facilitating the cooperation among the companies and other local stakeholders (nonprofits and local government).

September 2005

May 21-22, 2005: Pro Vobis co-organized the General Assembly of the European Volunteer Center (www.cev.be) held in Cluj Napoca. The event brought together 50 participants from 12 European countries, representing national and/or regional volunteerism development agencies across Europe and their Romanian counterparts, representatives of the local volunteer centers. The theme of event was "volunteering for All Ages".

May 2005

April 16-22, 2005: Pro Vobis celebrated the fourth edition of the National Volunteer Week (NVW). This year Pro Vobis made available for all those celebrating the NVW promotional materials worth $1000. Pro vobis efforts were also directed towards collecting information about all the evenets organized by the volunteer centers and other organizations around the country to celebrate NVW, drafting the NVW National Program and colleting information to draft a National report on NVW 2005, that will be available soon.

April 2005

March 2005: Pro Vobis launched the newsletter of the organization named ?Pro Vobis Smile?. The newsletter aims to be a quarterly publication informing all those interested in Pro Vobis National Volunteer Center activities, projects, initiatives, but also a source of information on the latest evolutions on the Romanian and worldwide volunteerism landscape.

March 2005