A unified information helpline "Help to Ukrainians in Latvia" - +371 27380380 - created by the Society Integration Foundation becomes functional to provide the key information in a single place about the possibility of receiving and providing support to the Ukrainian civilians.
The informative helpline "Help for Ukrainians in Latvia" will provide the war refugees from Ukraine with centralised information about the assistance and support available in Latvia, for example, how to receive employment-related, psychological, legal support, interpreter, health care, social support, etc. In turn, Latvian citizens will be provided with information on the possibility to make donations and provide assistance, for example, by engaging in voluntary work.
It is planned that the helpline will work round the clock without holidays, and answers will be available in Latvian, Russian, Ukrainian and English.
Information on the support offered by the Latvian society will be compiled by the Society Integration Foundation in close cooperation with the movement "Wish to Help the Refugees", the Ministry of the Interior, the State Border Guard, the State Fire and Rescue Service and other state institutions. Information about the support offered by the Latvian society will be provided by the Society Integration Foundation, based on the initiatives expressed by Latvian citizens, companies and organisations in the platform palidziukrainai.lv. The Society Integration Foundation will unite and effectively involve more than 60 NGOs in providing support, including the association "Latvian Red Cross", the foundation "Caritas Latvija", the association "Easy to Help", "Latvian Centre for Human Rights" and others.
Director of the Society Integration Foundation Secretariat Zaiga Pūce explains that the solution will ensure that information is presented in a coordinated and as simple manner as possible. This is particularly important in a crisis situation where there are many parties involved in providing assistance.
"Latvian society has demonstrated a clear willingness to support the Ukrainian people and Ukraine’s right to self-determination, as evidenced by more than 4 000 volunteer applications received in record time. The helpline will be a place where we will bring together those who wish to help with those who need our support the most," says Zaiga Pūce.
The Society Integration Foundation ensures the effective implementation of the social cohesion policy and provides substantial support to the non-governmental sector to strengthen the country of citizenship and democracy by supporting a society that is civically educated, active, responsible, inclusive and cohesive.
At the end of the last year the Society Integration Foundation was designated as a coordinating body for individuals in need of international protection in the field of coordination of socio-economic inclusion.