Background information

On 23 March 2020 the volunteers platform vieglipalidzet-paliecmajas was created. During the state of emergency in the country, a lot of people of people were in self-isolation and quarantine. To help these people and at the same time protect others from possible infection with COVID-19, volunteers platform vieglipalidzet-paliecmajas was created with the goal to help with delivery of food and household items, as well as taking pets for walks and providing emotional support.

Content of measure

The platform is ongoing work on the 5th place idea of Hackforce virtual hackathon, thus receiving support from the Latvian Investment and Development Agency, the Ministry of Economics and several companies. During the first wave of the pandemic the platform managed to attract more than 500 volunteers and good regional coverage with 50 regional coordinators. Number of enterprises, including Rimi, major retail operator, has also supported the platform either financially or with food packs.

During the summer time with low number of COVID-19 cases the help was not so crucial. With the COVID-19 cases rising, on 22 October 2020 the platform reopened their operations. Volunteers are ready to help with delivery of food, hygiene or other goods, delivery of over-the-counter medicines, receipt of shipments, taking pets for a walk, taking out waste, or just have a talk. The volunteers have to follow ethical principles of the volunteer movement.

Use of measure

No information available.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Does not apply to businesses	The COVID-19 risk group Other groups of citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
Other social actors (e.g. NGOs)	Companies National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	No involvement
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

No involvement in this action

Views and reactions

No specific views to report

Sources

• 23 March 2020: Establish a voluntary assistance network for the supply of food to at-risk groups, people in self-isolation or quarantine (www.lsm.lv)
• 22 October 2020: Vieglipalidzet Volunteer Movement resumes operational assistance (www.lsm.lv)