Advocacy is carried out through representation in the Government Council for Non-Governmental Non-Profit Organisations, through membership and active participation in the activities of the European Volunteer Centre, but also through specific activities; in recent years in particular:
- Coordination and cooperation with 20 organisations in the preparation of the Concept of Education and Training of Children and Youth for Volunteering (adopted in April 2018).
- Collaboration with more than 10 organisations in the development of the Youth Report on Volunteering (2018).
- Cooperation in the preparation of a proposal for cooperation between labour, social affairs and family offices and volunteer centres in the field of volunteering for the unemployed.
- Working meetings with representatives of the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for the Development of Civil Society on the topic of volunteering legislation.
- Working meetings with MPs of the National Council of the Slovak Republic on legislative support for volunteering.
- Cooperation on the preparation of the proposal and implementation of research on the non-profit sector and civil society, which includes the topic of research on volunteering.
- Cooperation on the preparation of the Youth Strategy 2021-2028.
- Coordinating the development of quality standards for youth work.
- We participated in the working meetings of the steering group at Iuventa and the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport where we commented on the content of the new legislation for the support of youth work.
- The Platform of Volunteer Centres and Organisations coordinated the preparation of the current Youth Strategy for Youth Volunteering and the preparation of the Programme for the Development of Volunteering and Volunteer Centres in Slovakia. Currently, we are again members of the working group preparing the new Youth Strategy for 2021-2028.
- Thanks to the Platform of Volunteer Centres and Organisations, the position of volunteer coordinator is part of the national occupational framework.
- We co-organised the Orbis Civitates conference (October 2019), which is dedicated to current issues in the non-profit sector, with special attention to the topic of volunteering and philanthropy, which we professionally guaranteed.
- Platform of Volunteer Centres and Organisations members were behind the drafting of the Law on Volunteering and have since been actively involved in the development of legislation in the field of volunteering. In December 2016, we prepared the document "Development of volunteering in Slovakia: interests and needs of voluntary organisations and centres. Document for the Government and Parliament of the Slovak Republic." The document defines the priority topics for which the Platform of Volunteer Centres and Organisations is actively seeking support from MPs and the public administration. 1) Introduction of an internationally valid method of measuring volunteering and the economic value of volunteering, 2) Legislative regulation of volunteering in Slovakia, and 3) Education and training for volunteering in kindergartens, primary, secondary and higher education.
- Thanks to Platform of Volunteer Centres and Organisation's close cooperation with the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for the Development of Civil Society, two tasks related to the promotion of financial support and favourable legislation in the field of volunteering were included in the Action Plan of the Concept for the Development of Civil Society for 2019 and 2020: task B.9. - to prepare a proposal for a mechanism of direct state support for volunteer programmes in order to promote volunteering in different areas, and task B.10. - to analyse the need for legislative amendments to Act No. 406/2011 Coll. on Volunteering and on Amendments and Additions to Certain Acts, as well as to identify the need for amendments to other legislation. On the basis of the analysis, prepare a proposal for legislative amendments to Act No 406/2011 Coll. on Volunteering and on Amendments and Additions to Certain Acts, as well as proposals for amendments to related legislation and submit them to the Government of the Slovak Republic for discussion. For these tasks, a working group is currently being established, which will be coordinated by the Platform of Volunteer Centres and Organisations in cooperation with the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for the Development of Civil Society.