Is it time to give Kenya’s Volunteerism Bill its day in Parliament?

Dan Kauna 12:10 - 20 June 2025

A Red Cross Kenya Volunteer treating an injured person during recent demonstrations on June 17 2025

Kenya’s volunteers contribute millions of hours each year in health, education, disaster response and community development. Yet, nearly a decade after the National Volunteerism Policy was adopted, it remains only for guidance. A draft Bill awaits tabling in Parliament: what would statutory recognition of volunteerism mean for Kenya’s development agenda?

Kenya’s volunteers consistently fill critical gaps. Yet without legal safeguards or guaranteed resources, these everyday heroes work without insurance, clear guidelines or formal recognition, leaving both volunteers and the communities they serve vulnerable.

With a National Volunteerism Policy still under review at the State Law Office, now is the moment to consider how binding legislation could strengthen our national response in high‑pressure situations, reinforce the “harambee” ethos, and ensure every volunteer hour counts and is protected.

Policy background

United Nations volunteers

In February 2016, Cabinet approved the National Volunteerism Policy to provide a cohesive framework for coordinating volunteer activities across national and county levels .

The Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, in partnership with the Volunteer‑Involving Organizations (VIO) Society Kenya, submitted the initial draft Bill in 2015.

After revisions in 2019, it currently resides at the State Law Office awaiting redrafting and formal tabling in Parliament.

The policy seeks to:

Define a legal framework and code of conduct. It seeks to set out volunteers’ rights under a national code that all organisations must follow.
Establish institutional structures. It seeks to create a National Volunteerism Board and a Secretariat to register, supervise and support volunteer‑involving organisations.
Build monitoring and evaluation systems. It seeks to put in place a Volunteer Management Information System that records deployments, tracks outcomes and generates annual performance reports, with regular audits.
Mobilise resources. It seeks to secure dedicated budget lines in national and county plans, and to leverage private‑sector partnerships and donor funding to keep volunteer programmes running smoothly .

What's the economic and social impact of volunteerism?

St John's Ambulance Volunteer responding to an accident in January 2025

Benefit to the economy: The most recent government-commissioned study (conducted in 2016) recorded "670 million volunteer hours, valued at USD2.36 billion, making up approximately 3.66 % of the GDP."

Contribution to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Kenya’s 2020 Sustainable Development Goals review reports that volunteers reached around 490,000 beneficiaries through health camps, literacy projects and livelihood training initiatives, illustrating the sector’s ongoing social impact .

Who stands to benefit if it becomes law?

Red Cross volunteers responding to a fire

Volunteers gain statutory protection. This includes insurance, formal recognition and grievance mechanisms, and access to structured training and career pathways.
Communities receive more reliable and coordinated health, education and disaster response support.
Volunteer‑Involving Organisations (VIOs) operate under one legal umbrella, reducing duplication and enhancing resource allocation.
National and County Governments can deploy a trained volunteer workforce to bolster frontline services, using real‑time data for planning and monitoring.

Despite these potential benefits, a few hurdles still stand in the way.

For instance, legislative delays.

Parliament’s crowded agenda may stall the Volunteerism Bill in the committee stages.

Budgetary constraints also prove a challenge, as the Treasury must allocate fresh resources rather than merely repackage existing donor funds.

So why legalise?

Kenya’s volunteer sector delivers substantial economic and social benefits.

But without legal backing, coordination remains fragmented and volunteers unprotected.

Turning the National Volunteerism Policy into a law would institutionalize Kenya’s modern harambee spirit, ensuring that every volunteer hour is officially recognized and sustained within our development framework.

With millions of unpaid hours underpinning critical services, the real question is whether another year of guidelines only will let us fully harness the power of volunteerism in Kenya’s development.

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