Crowdfunding to support medical staff in Latvia
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 currently 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 Marita Zitmane
Medical staff has been working long hours in difficult conditions for almost a year. Many doctors are burnt out or close to a burnout, as they are both physically and mentally depleted.
The aim of this initiative is to support medical staff in Latvia during the Covid-19 crisis. To do so, donations are collected, and the money is used to provide three days of free rest for burnt out doctors in some of the most beautiful places in Latvia.
The target audience is medical staff, mostly composed of women. Thus, this initiative addresses the gender care gap, providing means to sustain physical and mental health by allowing them to take a three-day break.
The campaign has a positive effect not only on busy medical staff, but also on the tourism industry, which has been hit hard by the restrictions imposed during the pandemic.
So far, €23,100 have been donated. Representatives of the hospitality industry are also invited to take part in the campaign, offering supportive accommodation conditions to medical staff.
The main promoter of this initiative is Hospiss LV, a non-governmental organisation aiming to emphasise the importance of palliative care services so that patients can spend the last days in pleasant conditions, under the supervision of professional staff.