Call for nominations for the “Human Development” Good Deeds Award

The Civic Alliance – Latvia, in cooperation with the US Embassy in Latvia, announces a call for nominations for the “Human Development” Awards, which for the tenth year will honour people, organizations and companies that selflessly invest resources in the development of society and human growth. The call is open until June 14, 2023.

As traditionally, the award laureates will be presented with sculpture “Sprout” by sculptor Olga Šilova, a stylised figure of a young woman symbolising a sprout awakened by the vernal sun – fragile, yet brimming with energy, reaching upwards to the sun.

“The sprout encapsulates the message of how big change can start small. This is the motive behind the tenth year of the Human Development Award, because we believe that every small step can lead to big changes, every positive story can multiply the good and inspire others to accomplish small and big deeds,” explains Kristīne Zonberga, Director of the Civic Alliance – Latvia, on the idea of the award.

In the nine years of the award’s existence, it has awarded to the 37 recipients of the Human Development Award. The winners include individuals, entrepreneurs, non-governmental organisations, and their representatives. Previous recipients include such personalities as the culinary blogger and author of several charity projects Rojs Puķe, Vita Kalniņa, head of the family psychological support centre LĪNA, Andris Bērziņš, founder of TechHub Riga, Anna Kupre, Deputy Director of Education at Galēnu Primary School, Accenture Latvian branch, the association “Integration for Society” and many others. All the winners can be found on the award website.

Christopher Robinson, US Ambassador to Latvia, says: “The annual Human Development Award demonstrates the vitality of Latvian civil society. CSOs play a crucial role in maintaining our democracies and responding to the needs of our communities.”

Nomination applications can be submitted in four categories:

1. For social responsibility and philanthropy – for outstanding achievements in the development of society, performing work for the benefit of society, generously devoting time, knowledge, financial or organizational resources to it.

2. For an outstanding contribution to education – for creating education, training quality and accessibility for the population at any stage of life.

3. For outstanding contributions to health – for promoting healthy lifestyles, supporting, and improving the health and well-being of individuals and societies, and reducing health inequalities.

4. On the contribution to the future of Latvia – on the promotion of the well-being and healthy development of children and youth, the provision of loving, stable care, including out-of-family care.

Applications are due by 14 June. The winners will be honoured at an award ceremony in October. Anyone can apply for the Award electronically by filling in a form that includes information about the applicant, a description of the applicant’s initiative, the objective, and the result. Applicants for the Award are people from Latvia and the diaspora or companies, associations and foundations registered in Latvia. Applicants may also nominate themselves. Photos from last year's Award Ceremony are available here.

About the Human Development Award

The award was established in 2014 emphasizing human development in response to negative demographic trends, such as declining population, high income inequality, reduced health status and a high proportion of institutional care for children. The aim of the award is to promote initiatives that help reduce inequalities and promote human growth.

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