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.

Image by Freepik

Find out more about the initiative

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 Ewelina Ciaputa.

The ‘Remote School’ programme (‘Zdalna szkoła’) was started to facilitate remote education in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides the measures targeting teachers and educators, there were also aspects of the programme that were designed to assist young people and children in education, as well as their parents.

Supporting teachers in acquiring competencies related to distance learning and digital technologies

The ‘Remote School’ programme, started during the first wave of the pandemic in Poland, had the objective of supporting the education system through various measures when it had to move online. Firstly, teachers (employed in kindergartens, primary schools, and secondary schools) were granted higher quality support and training from the state, especially with regard to remote education. This initiative, given the majority female composition of the teaching profession, particularly improved the competences of female teachers related to distance learning and digital technologies. Teachers were also eligible to receive 500 zloty (about €100) for the purchase of needed digital equipment. The programme also provided internet access to both teachers and students who did not have adequate access previously.

A similar initiative in higher education institution

Eventually, these initiatives were expanded through a similar programme aimed at the qualitative improvement of remote learning at non-public universities, helping educators in higher education institutions to give compelling lectures at a distance.

Image by Hatice Erol on Pixabay

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 initiative has been collected by Igor Živković.

Women were severely hit during the pandemic. This includes female professionals and entrepreneurs. Coca-Cola Poland in collaboration with the Foundation Of Success Written with Lipstic (Fundacja Sukcesu Pisanego Szminką) has initiated the programme titled ‘Success is ME’, which aims to support women in Poland and get them active in the labour market.

A myriad of free, online tools to support women

‘Success is ME’ gives tools for learning and self-development. They were developed and made available online during the pandemic, and thus easily accessible.

The programme is a rich and comprehensive offer of workshops, courses and expert advice that allow women to get support, help and expand their competences and knowledge. For those who need in-depth and systematic knowledge, individual mentoring sessions are available.

Among the numerous free online tools is the MyOla application, which includes regularly updated recordings, conversations with psychologists, experts and mentors, meditations and breathing exercises. The application has already been downloaded by almost 17,000 users.

Women who seek free and anonymous legal advice can also count on active support.

It was estimated that over 700,000 Polish women already took an advantage of this initiative, although the impact is not measured.

In the future, the organisers of the initiative plan to launch new activities – an intensive training programme for online businesses which aims to show how a business should adapt to new conditions or how to start a business nowadays.

Fundacja Sukcesu Pisanego Szminką aims to promote entrepreneurial attitudes and comprehensive support for women and young people, providing them with professional knowledge necessary for personal and professional development.

Find out more about ‘Success is ME’