The Provincial Council of Álava has approved an aid line for municipalities and cuadrillas within the territory to develop programs and activities aimed at combating unwanted loneliness. Through the Provincial Institute for Social Welfare, €100,000 will be distributed this year to tackle this increasingly prevalent issue affecting people of all ages and backgrounds.
The provincial institution has reported that unwanted loneliness is an established phenomenon with a direct impact on health, emotional well-being, and social cohesion. Its influence is particularly significant in rural settings, where population aging, depopulation, or limited community resource networks can exacerbate the situation.
In small and medium-sized municipalities, this issue is worsened by factors such as depopulation, demographic aging, and restricted community resources. Technical evidence indicates that unwanted loneliness has consequences comparable to other health risk factors, intensifying both physical illnesses and mental health problems.
In this context, local entities, being close to citizens, play a crucial role in detecting situations of loneliness and implementing responses tailored to the reality of each municipality.
Consequently, the Department of Social Policies has launched a call for aid for municipalities with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants and for cuadrillas, thereby continuing the 'Araba a Punto' collaborative strategy to address unwanted loneliness in Álava, which has been led by the Provincial Council of Álava in recent years.
The objective of the new call is to strengthen community care ecosystems by promoting initiatives involving the social, health, and educational services, as well as the associative network of each town. Through these grants, projects for preventing, detecting, and intervening in loneliness can be financed. Interventions can target diverse groups, such as the elderly, youth, children, migrants, people with disabilities, or those in vulnerable situations.
Aid will be awarded through a competitive process, evaluating aspects such as technical quality, community impact, innovation, inter-institutional coordination, or the integration of a gender perspective and the use of Basque.
By launching this new aid line, municipalities can enhance their intervention capacity and establish a care model based on community, prevention, and support. The call is open, and all information can be consulted in the Official Gazette of the Historical Territory of Álava (BOTHA).
