To alleviate the impacts of COVID-19 policies, many initiatives have been developed by civil society organisations – NGOs, local governments, or citizens. A team of national researchers from the RESISTIRÉ project has collected and highlighted a set of particularly relevant initiatives in 27 European countries and in Iceland, Serbia, the United Kingdom and Turkey. These Better Stories cover eight specific domains: gender-based violence, the labour market, the economy, gender-pay and pension gaps, gender care gaps, decision-making and politics, environmental justice, human and fundamental rights.
This Better Story was collected by Ewelina Ciaputa
The pandemic caused many individuals to lose their jobs, pushing them into a sudden state of poverty.
Local aid for pandemic unemployment struggles
In April 2020, a group of students took action to help people who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic. As economic conditions worsened and unemployment increased in Poland, these volunteers extended their assistance to those in need. They focus on aiding people who became unemployed within two months prior to reaching out and those whose job loss was a result of the global health crisis. Their support includes essentials like food and household items, along with help in finding new employment and even public transportation tickets. Their efforts are concentrated in Krakow and its nearby areas, aiming to make a positively impact the local community.