Next week, on the night of October 22 to 23, a special methodology will be used to count the homeless in Riga, resulting in accurate data about people without housing, reported the External Communications Department of the Riga City Council.
The data is necessary for planning the development of social services.
The municipality, in collaboration with the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences of the University of Latvia (LU), is participating in the international project "The Initiative to Count Homeless People in Europe." It will be conducted simultaneously in 35 European cities. This is the first project of its kind aimed at creating a unified and repeatable approach to counting homeless individuals. It involves counting using a single methodology to identify people without housing, understand their living conditions, the reasons for homelessness, and the necessary assistance.
The project aims to obtain comparable data that will serve as a basis for more effective policy planning in this area. Until now, there has been no unified approach to counting of this kind in Europe.
The participation of the Riga municipality in the project will allow for the inclusion of both homeless individuals who are already receiving social services and those living in places unfit for habitation. The data analysis will be provided to policymakers for the development of assistance strategies and social service improvements.
The census in Riga will involve researchers, social workers, municipal institutions, and volunteers, including the Welfare Department of the Riga municipality, the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences of the University of Latvia, the Riga Social Service, shelters, the Mobile Social Work Team for the Homeless, crisis centers, municipal police, healthcare institutions, and correctional facilities.
The city will be divided into zones where surveys will be conducted to collect data on people without permanent housing, their situation, and the necessary support mechanisms and solutions.
On November 24, 2023, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the EU and its member states to eradicate homelessness by 2030 by developing an EU framework for national strategies, decriminalizing homelessness, and continuing to allocate funding to address this issue.
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