The Quality Label (QL) is an organisation’s entry ticket for the European Solidarity Corps! Participation in the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) programme requires possession of the Quality Label, which is awarded to organisations that meet Programme participation criteria.
To obtain the Quality Label, an organisation or institution from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro or Serbia must submit an online application. The application should show that the organisation is able to host or send volunteers and includes several parts, such as essential organisational documents, the motivation of the organisation to participate in the Programme and its capacity to implement the project. Additionally, the organisation must provide the programme and suggested weekly schedule of the activities of the volunteers that they plan to host. The application process requires time, effort and teamwork, but once you are in the Programme, there will be no additional applications! An organisation can apply for a Quality Label for sending and/or receiving roles, as well as for different actions – projects of different type and duration (individual short and/or long-term and volunteering teams). Each required role and action must be separately described in each question section.
The prescribed duration of the QL process is six weeks, but in reality, it usually takes more time and depends on the level of preparedness of the applicant for ESC (in terms of knowledge of ESC and prepared structured framework). Thus, thorough preparation involving a fixed team of people and early initiation of the QL process is recommended.
For organisations established in the Western Balkans countries, the SALTO South East Europe Resource centre (SALTO SEE) carries out the process of awarding the Quality Label with the support of external experts.
To find out more, consult the SALTO SEE website HERE.
In Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro and Serbia, 60 organisations have the European Solidarity Corps Quality Label and they can cooperate with more than 5.400 organisations and send and receive young volunteers from across Europe. Find out about them from the Quality Label database HERE.
* This designation is without prejudice to positions and status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
