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2 where was the PPE?

3 NHS not trident

4 toilet rights

6 UN women’s rights

7 WIDF covid statement

8 NAW agm

8 NAW conference

covid-19 – where was the PPE?

Iam sure, like me you must have beenhorrified to observe the absolute

calamity that unfolded regarding the lackof PPE for front line health workers andall health and care workers, the govern-ment’s inability to make sure the essen-tial PPE was in stock ready to use defiesbelief there had been work done on Whatif a pandemic? but if after that the admin-istration then ignores the findings andwhat needs to be done, shame on them!It could be argued that this was a case ofthe incompetent being led by the inept.(or is it the other way around?). One thingis for sure though that the vulnerabletogether with health and care workershave suffered the most.

NAW Executive member, RoseKeeping recommends the latest reportwhich lays bare the “fundamentally dys-functional” system for sourcing PPE andreveals that privatisation is at the centreof the “ongoing fiasco” of PPE shortagesin the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the report, published byWe Own It – public services for peoplenot private profit, the privatisation of theNHS Supply Chain and its break up into11 outsourced contracts has contributedto the failure of the NHS to acquire anddistribute sufficient PPE to medical staff.

The report shows how the procurementprocess itself has been entirely out-sourced. Instead of being handled by civilservants directly employed by the NHS,companies like DHL [2] are in charge ofselecting suppliers for the NHS. Thesesuppliers in turn select other private com-panies to make specific items, like PPEgowns for them, and then hand them toyet another private logistics company todeliver them to the NHS trusts. NHStrusts have been told not to source PPEfrom local suppliers, but to use this cen-tralised system. In doing so, every pieceof equipment goes through four separatelayers of profit-taking. [3]

The report authors [4] – including cam-paign group We Own It, and ProfessorDavid Hall, of the Public ServicesInternational Research Unit at theUniversity of Greenwich – show that theprivatisation of the process of sourcing ofNHS supplies has created a “fundamen-tally dysfunctional system” and that thishas “severely undermined the nationaleffort to protect NHS and care staff”,which has “helped turn the pandemic intoan utter disaster”.

Professor David Hall said: “Privatisa -tion of the NHS supply chain has createda complex, fragmented, unresponsiveand bureaucratic mess which has left usunprepared and ill-equipped to tackle the

current crisis. So much responsibility hasbeen outsourced to so many contractorsthat the secretary of state literally cannotknow what he is doing. It is shocking thatDHL, the parcel delivery subsidiary ofDeutsche Post, has been deciding how tospend over £4 billion of the NHS budget.

“The entire system must be simplifiedand brought under direct NHS control,with clear lines of accountability. This iswork which should be done by civil ser-vants employed by the NHS, responsiveto the needs of their fellow-workers in theNHS, with a public service culture of pri-oritising safety, long term planning andsmart use of skills and resources withinthe NHS, local communities and the localmanufacturing sector.”

A central problem the report identifiesis the “just in time” business model usedby logistics contractors such as Unipart inthe stocking and distribution of PPE. The“just in time” model is common in indus-tries such as car or electronics manufac-turing and is designed to reduce stocklevels. However, the report argues thatthis creates risk for the NHS that suffi-cient supplies are not available to man-age unforeseen events, such as the cur-rent pandemic. Stocks of key PPE itemswere not maintained by the contractorresponsible for the pandemic stockpile,the government only ‘paused the run-down’ of stocks in February, and NHStrusts were warned that their orders forPPE might be treated as ‘excessive’which “may be subject to automatic sys-tem reduction... or cancelled’.

A number of private companies alsoface specific criticism in the report,including those involved in the procure-ment process such as DHL and Foodbuy;logistics companies including Unipart,Clipper Logistics and Movianto and oth-ers awarded special contracts by the gov-ernment, such as Deloitte which hasbeen criticised for its coordination ofcoronavirus testing centres, along withthe companies it has contracted to runthem including the outsourcing giantSerco.

Speaking on the failures of these com-panies, We Own It Director Cat Hobbssaid: “It is beyond scandalous that somuch of the coronavirus response hasbeen handed over to private companies –companies that have failed time and timeagain to deliver. Whether it is Unipart orDeloitte, Movianto or Clipper Logistics,these companies should be kept wellaway from our NHS.

“This crisis has shown us that the NHSis made far more vulnerable by privatisa-tion, and so many failings – from the fail-

ure to distribute sufficient PPE to the inef-fective approach to testing – lie at thedoor of private companies.

“From now on, we need to ensure thatour NHS is run in the interest of publichealth, not private profit. In doing so, thegovernment needs to reinstate it as afully publicly owned and run health ser-vice.”

The report comes off the back of acampaign launched by We Own It whichcalls for the NHS to be put in charge ofmanaging its supply chain, no new pri-vate contracts to be granted during thecoronavirus crisis, and the reinstatementof the NHS as a fully public service.

It also follows a group of scientists –known as Independent SAGE – called formajor reforms of the NHS procurementprocess. The group recommended that“there must be reform of the process ofprocurement of goods and services toensure responsive and timely supply forprimary and secondary care, and com-munity infection control, in anticipation ofa second wave of infection.”

FURTHER INFORMATION

[1] THE FULL REPORT – PRIVATISED ANDUNPREPARED: THE NHS SUPPLY CHAIN – ISAVAILABLE AT: WEOWNIT.ORG.UK/PRIVATISED-AND-UNPREPARED-NHS-SUPPLY-CHAIN PLEASE CONTACTCHRISTOPHER@WEOWNIT.ORG.UK FOR ANEMBARGOED COPIED OF THE REPORT[2] DHL IS OWNED BY DEUTSCHE POST – THEGERMAN MULTINATIONAL PACKAGEDELIVERY AND SUPPLY CHAINMANAGEMENT COMPANY. THE COMPANYHAS BOASTED ABOUT HOW IT HELPED THEGOVERNMENT PRIVATISE “THEGOVERNMENT PURCHASING AND SUPPLYAGENCY AND LOGISTICS AGENCY. DHL HASPREVIOUSLY CONFESSED TO BEING PARTOF FREIGHT CARTELS. DETAILS ON DHL CANBE FOUND ON PAGE 33 OF THE REPORT. [3] A DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THECURRENT PROCUREMENT PROCESS CAN BEFOUND IN PAGES 10-21 OF THE REPORT.[4] THE REPORT HAS BEEN CO-PUBLISHEDBY THE UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICH AND WEOWN IT. IT IS WRITTEN BY DAVID HALL(VISITING PROFESSOR PSIRU, UNIVERSITYOF GREENWICH), JOHN LISTER (SENIORLECTURER COVENTRY UNIVERSITY ANDDIRECTOR, LONDON HEALTH EMERGENCY),CAT HOBBS (WE OWN IT), PASCALEROBINSON (WE OWN IT) AND CHRIS JARVIS(WE OWN IT), WITH ADDITIONAL MATERIALBY DR HELEN MERCER (RETIRED SENIORLECTURER AT THE UNIVERSITY OFGREENWICH).

HTTPS://WEOWNIT.ORG.UK

2

NHS not trident now more than ever

AS I write in mid-June 2020, in themiddle of the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s

clear that mistakes rooted in ideologyhave driven the UK almost to the top ofthe excess deaths international leaguetable. Since March, 25,000 patients havebeen discharged from hospitals into carehomes without testing facilities or ade-quate PPE (personal protective equip-ment). Were they judged by governmentto be expendable, some kind of accept-able collateral damage? The term onmany people’s lips is that elders, disabledpeople and people with learning disabilityhave been culled. More than half of thedeaths from Covid in England have beenof elderly people. The Guardian newspaper of 13 June

refers to “dubious ethical decisions”. Weneed to be clear that NHS clinicians wereoperating to Department of Health guide-lines, signed off by government ministers.

We must try to understand what hasgone wrong and why, and why govern-ment priorities are so distorted. In orderto do this, we have to look at some mod-ern history.

The post war settlement from the1940s to the 1970s saw a great move-ment towards reducing inequality, withthe foundation of the NHS, programmesof house building, better education andadult education and access to highereducation for working class people.

However, military expenditure andarms sales were always part of the mix.Expenditure on the military (so called“defence”) was and is still seen as patriot-

ic while expenditure on and possessionof nuclear weapons is perceived as giv-ing the nuclear armed states some kindof ‘heavy-hitter’ status. Arguably this hasbeen driven by some kind of post-imperi-al grandeur. One of Boris Johnson’s firstofficial visits as Prime Minister was to thenuclear submarine base at Faslane inScotland, where he was photographed onboard a sub, chatting to the crew.

Thus, even though the current pan-demic (an existential threat) has nothingto do with nuclear weapons or aircraftcarriers or the wider military infrastruc-ture, the government chose to prioritise aTier 2 threat of nuclear war above theTier 1 threat of a global pandemic. Thesecurity services MI6 and GCHQ wereeither not listened to at the beginning of2020 or they missed a trick. The govern-ment ignored its own biological securitystrategy.

It did this, knowing that stocks of PPEand other pandemic essential medicalsupplies had been run down in the aus-terity years of Cameron/Clegg, Mayand – until now – Johnson. Ideology wasmore important than public safety.

Johnson consciously chose to keeptwo big sports events on the calendarand to allow ski tourists to fly home fromItaly without sufficient testing at airportsor quarantine from there. Only about onethird of passengers were intercepted.This seems to have been because of afear of economic damage or unpopularitycombined with the misplaced concept of‘herd immunity’.

why nuclear?So what of nuclear weapons? Sara MediJones, Campaigns Officer at CND, hasrecently written that a leak from thePentagon reveals that work on the war-heads had started before parliamentapproved it and before the forthcomingDefence & Security Review. The UK’srelationship with the USA supersedesparliamentary scrutiny and accountability.The work has begun ahead of the gov-ernment’s own forthcoming foreign policyand defence review and of course pre-empts any conclusions from that review.

This is in the context of climatechange, terrorism and health pandemics.South Korea has warned that there arebound to be more novel coronaviruses.We know already of the toxic environ-mental consequences of war. The main-tenance of nuclear weapons can onlyexacerbate the climate crisis.

The reality of our current situation isthat a neoliberal market economy justcannot cope with climate breakdown andpandemic. Nuclear weapons pose onlythe threat of nuclear disaster. They areirrelevant, dangerous, madly expensiveand add to inter-state paranoia and con-frontation politics.

This at a time when 36 states have rati-fied the United Nations Treaty on theProhibition of Nuclear Weapons, so we

are more than two thirds of the waytowards such weapons becoming illegal.

Now, as we move towards some formof transition out from international lock-down, we see in the UK a call to BuildBack Better. This is just as two sponta-neous developments arise from theCovid-19 outbreak – mass mutual helpand co-operation and solidarity and theBlack Lives Matter campaign, which chal-lenges the core of imperialism andracism.

We know that there will have to be areadjustment on priorities including‘defence’ and ‘strategic deterrence’(nuclear weapons to you and me).Outdated perspectives on nuclear armswill have to go.

We know that arms conversion fromweapons making is possible; BAE sys-tems and Babcock have switched quicklyto manufacturing ventilators.

It’s time once again to assert NHS notTrident, and to bring together the social,environmental and peace agendas.

I am grateful to Paul Rogers andRainer Braun for much of the material inthis article.

PAM FLYNN IS CHAIR OF GREATERMANCHESTER CND AND A MEMBER OF NAW

VISIT CNDUK.ORG FOR MORE INFORMATIONAND WEBCASTS

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toilet rights for all transport workers

SUSAN MURRAY WAS FOR 16 YEARS ANATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ADVISERFOR UNITE THE UNION. RECENTLY SHE HASBEEN WORKING WITH TWO GLOBAL UNIONFEDERATIONS SPECIALISING IN WOMEN ANDOCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY,INCLUDING HELPING TO DEVELOP THE ITF’STRANSPORT WORKERS’ SANITATIONCHARTER

Atoilet is a human right for all transportworkers: the International Transport

Workers’ Federation’s (ITF) global sanita-tion campaign.

“Bus workers in somecountries resort to

using adult diapers dueto lack of access to

toilets. We share theseshameful working

conditions but can’teven afford to buy

diapers.” Woman bus conductor, India

Safe access to decent sanitary andwashing facilities is essential for all work-ers. Already a serious health and safetyissue for transport workers, especiallywomen, there is a new urgency with theglobal Covid-19 pandemic.

what is the problem?Long working hours with limited breaksand lack of access to facilities are preva-lent in the transport industry. When facili-ties do exist at all they are often insecure,dirty and poorly lit and ill-equipped (espe-cially for women) which forces workers toimprovise. This includes using diapersand bottles for disposal, deliberately nottaking liquids thus risking dehydration, or

“holding it in” which may affect their con-centration as well as their health. All thiscompromises workers’ dignity, theirhealth, safety and security, and threatenspublic safety and health.

Women transport workers are particu-larly affected. Research has shown thatwomen need to use the toilet more fre-quently and for longer. Many transportworkplaces do not provide facilities forwomen workers at all, putting women atrisk of violence and ill-health and creatinga barrier to their employment and reten-tion in the stubbornly male-dominatedtransport industry.

Workers in the informal transport econ-omy (such as platform workers) are espe-cially vulnerable.

Covid-19 adds to the problem – when itshould be prompting employers to ensureeasy access to facilities and addresshygiene issues

Examples include:n Women seafarers may not haveaccess to sanitary products while strand-ed in a foreign country with no freedom ofmovementn Covid-19 being used as an additionalexcuse to deny delivery drivers access tosanitary facilities at premises they visit forworkn Public transport workers working longshifts and high levels of exposure to thevirus with limited or no access to sanita-tion facilities which is exacerbated by theclosure of cafes and restaurantsn Some employers being slow to imple-ment hygiene and protective measuressuch as social distancing in warehousesand distribution centres where work andworker numbers may have increased dueto higher demand.

a toilet is a workers’ rightFor all transport workers, decent work-place sanitary and washing facilities are n a human rightn a labour rightn a gender equality rightn central to decent work in the global

transport economyn essential to the health, safety and wel-fare of all transport workers.

A toilet should be available, appropri-ate, clean, private, safe, secure andaccessible for all transport workers wher-ever they are working.

But these labour rights, human rights,gender equality and health and safetyrights are routinely flouted across theworld.

working for solutions: the ITFSanitation campaignThe ITF’s sanitation campaign took offafter ITF Women organised a well-attend-ed fringe meeting “Our right to flush” atITF Congress 2018 in Singapore – anddecent workplace sanitation for all trans-port workers became a Congress priority.

Led by ITF Women, the ITF developedthe Transport Workers’ SanitationCharter which was launched on WorldToilet Day 19 November 2019 (an officialUnited Nations observance day). Thelaunch prompted global action by ITFaffiliates.

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what is the Transport Workers’Sanitation Charter?The Charter outlines the problem includ-ing workers’ stories of ill health, loss ofdignity, financial costs, and risk? of vio-lence because of poor or non-existent toi-let facilities for transport workers (espe-cially for women). It emphasises that col-laboration means improvement, withexamples of successful actions and cam-paigns by affiliates, such as negotiatingdesignated breaks, specific facilities forwomen transport workers and employersproviding sanitary products free of chargeto workers.

The Charter demands action forimprovements in sanitary provision fortransport workers, giving particular atten-tion to the needs of women transportworkers, from the International LabourOrganisation and regional inter-govern-mental organisations.

“When workingcoastwise (cruise ships)we used to have to shit

in a hole. “After women came tothe waterfront we had

actual toilets; it gotbetter for all of us.”Male dock worker, Canada

The Charter also makes extensivedemands for action from governments(such as for gender-responsive legisla-tion, research and policy), employers andtheir supply chains (such as worker con-sultation on health and safety and sani-tary provision including women workers)and investors in transport projects whoshould satisfy themselves that labourrights are being respected and the infra-structure includes appropriate sanitaryfacilities for all workers.

There is a checklist for decent sanitaryfacilities for transport workers to assist incollective bargaining, information on

health issues arising from of lack ofaccess to toilet facilities at work (such asurinary tract infections, menstruation andpregnancy) and a list of key legal sourcesincluding international UN conventionsand resolutions and ILO conventions andguidelines underlining the right to sanita-tion under international law.

the Charter and Covid-19Building on the Charter, the ITF hasissued demands for urgent necessaryaction from employers, governments, andinvestors.

These include: n integrating a gender-responsiveapproach to legislation, policies andguidelines in relation to workers’ hygieneand sanitary provision and to all the prac-tical steps needed to keep workers safeand healthyn ensuring appropriate facilities andbreaks for workers during the workingday to use them without loss of pay orvictimisationn including women and men on Covid-19public health and occupational health andsafety advisory bodiesn provision of information, instructionand training on Covid-19 and of suitablePPE free of charge to all transport work-ers.

FURTHER INFORMATION

ITF: FOR THE FULL LIST OF DEMANDS OFTHE TRANSPORT WORKERS’ SANITATIONCHARTER WWW.ITFGLOBAL.ORG/EN/NEWS/TOILET-RIGHTS-ARE-HUMAN-RIGHTS-TRANSPORT-WORKERS-SANITATION-CHARTER

ITF: COVID-19 AND ACCESS TO SANITATIONFACILITIES FOR TRANSPORT WORKERSWWW.ITFGLOBAL.ORG/EN/NEWS/COVID-19-AND-ACCESS-SANITATION-FACILITIES-TRANSPORT-WORKERS

PLEASE CONTACT WOMEN@ITF.ORG.UKFOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE ITFSANITATION CAMPAIGN

DfT & HSEcare abouttoilets...

SPURRED on by Covid-19 if notby concern for drivers the DfT

and HSE produced the following let-ter in May 2020:

To whom it may concern

Access to hygiene facilitiesfor driversThis letter has been produced by theDepartment for Transport and theHealth and Safety Executive (HSE),to reassure drivers, and to remindbusinesses of their obligations underthe Workplace (Health, Safety andWelfare) Regulations 1992, to providesuitable toilet and hand washing facil-ities to drivers visiting their premises.

Businesses which make or receivedeliveries, should ensure that drivershave easy and safe access to toiletsand hand washing facilities to supporttheir health and wellbeing whilst car-rying out their important work, whichsupports the economy.

Preventing access isagainst the law Regulations 20 and 21 state that suit-able and sufficient sanitary conve-niences and washing facilities shallbe provided at readily accessibleplaces and that hot and cold runningwater and soap must be available touse. Whilst this obligation for busi-ness is not new, ensuring thathygiene facilities are made availableto visiting drivers is especially impor-tant during the current COVID-19 cri-sis, to avoid unwanted public healthimplications and to help tackle thespread of the virus, at a time whenthere are fewer locations operatingwith facilities that drivers can access.

HSE guidance states that driversmust have access to welfare facilitieslocated in the premises they visit aspart of their work. The responsibilityin law to provide access rests withthe person in control of the premises.

You can obtain more informationon infection control by contacting:Public Health England: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england Public Health Wales:www.wales.nhs.uk Health ProtectionScotland: www.hps.scot.nhs.uk

Yours faithfully, Baroness Vere of NorbitonParliamentary under Secretary ofState Department for TransportSarah AlbonCEO, HSE

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all

united nations: women’s rights

THIS year marks the 10th anniversaryof the mandate of the United Nations

Special Rapporteur on the rights to free-dom of peaceful assembly and of associ-ation (FoAA). Its creation by the HumanRights Council in 2010 put the rights toFoAA at the centre of internationalhuman rights discussions and helpedraise awareness and counter the manythreats people face while exercisingthese rights.

The UN recognised that women andgirls have inspired and led mass mobili-sations and collective action across theworld. Whether they are speaking upagainst corruption and economic inequal-ity, reclaiming democracy and politicalfreedom, or demanding fair work and cli-mate justice, women of all ages are at theforefront of today’s most pressing globalstruggles. While this is not new – womenhave been central players in movementsfor democracy, peace and human rights,including women’s rights and genderequality for generations – the power andvisibility of their current activism is offer-ing a renewed vision of hope in the con-text of democratic backsliding andrepression of human rights.

Nevertheless, in many countries,women and girls who are publicly andpolitically active are at much risk of viola-tion or discrimination in their exercise ofthese rights. They not only face well-doc-umented patterns of state repression –that men, boys and those who identifywith other identities also face – but manyadditional obstacles, challenges andimpacts that are gendered, intersectional,and based in deep-rooted discriminatorysocial norms.

As part of the review organisationswere requested to respond to six ques-tions posed by the Special Rapporteur:

1What has the Governmentdone to ensure that women

and girls have equal opportuni-ties to exercise their rights tofreedom of peaceful assemblyand of association (FoAA), bothin law and in practice?

2a) Association: Is there anenabling environment in your

country or region for a diversityof women and girls to form andjoin associations and/or net-works? How is an equal and safespace for women and girls to par-ticipate meaningfully beingensured? Are there social normsand discriminatory laws, policiesand practices that deny or deterwomen and girls from the exer-cise of the right to freely associ-ate – directly or indirectly – orlaws which affect everyone buthave different impacts on womenand girls? Are there specificissues women and girls aredenied to form associations onand why? Do these extend online

and in digital spaces? Are thereattacks and violence againstwomen and girls who form or joinassociations and how do theymanifest themselves?

2b) Peaceful Assembly: In whatways are women and girls in

your country or region able tomobilise and participate mean-ingfully in peaceful assemblies –offline and online? What aresome of the drivers behind thesemobilisations? What are some ofthe barriers and obstacles theyface specifically – including viola-tions? Are there specific issueswomen and girls are denied tomobilise or participate on andwhy? Could you give examples ofachievements, which resultedfrom such mobilisation? Arethere discriminatory laws, poli-cies and practices that deterthem from the exercise of thisright – or affect everyone buthave specific impacts on womenand girls and if so, how?

2c) In your opinion, which mea-sures and policies would have

to be taken to remove existingobstacles and risks to womenand girls’ enjoyment of theserights?

3Some women and girls faceparticular obstacles to FoAA

and are at even greater risk ofviolations of their rights, includ-ing violence and marginalisation,due to intersecting forms of dis-crimination. Can you identifygroups of women and girls inyour country or region that areparticularly at risk and requirespecific attention in the thematicreport? In this regard, what aretheir specific situations, viewsand requirements to facilitateand protect their rights to FoAA?

4The 2030 Agenda of Sustain -able Development also calls

for gender equality and women’sempowerment, as crosscuttingissues, especially in Goals 5 and16. Has your organisation andother civil society organisationsbeen involved in advancing gen-der equality across the 2030Agenda where this concerns free-dom of association and assem-bly, as well as specifically con-cerning implementation of SDG 5and 16 – both on its own and incooperation with States and UNagencies?

5a) What has been your andyour organisation’s experi-

ence in supporting women andgirls in exercising the rights toFoAA?

5b) What have been the biggestchallenges in your work to

help guarantee the enjoyment of

women and girls rights to FoAAwhile ensuring gender equalityand addressing the specificneeds of diverse women andgirls?

6a) Can you name measuresand policies taken by a State

or the UN that you think havebeen especially effective toensure women and girls’ equalenjoyments to their rights toFoAA? Do you have any examplesof good practices or strategiesput forward by civil society toovercome the restrictions thatwomen and girls face in exercis-ing these rights? What role canthe UN play in this regard andhow could its action be improvedto better support women’sactivism?

6b) Can you share an inspiringstory of how women and girls

exercised their rights to FoAA tochange their lives, that of theirfamilies, communities or coun-tries for the better?

6c) How do you view the femi-nist movement and the chal-

lenges it faces – and how thesecan best be addressed? What arenotable examples of women’sactivism or women-led organisa-tions and movements from yourcountry, region, or area of the-matic expertise from 2010 to thepresent?

YOU CAN READ THE FULL SUBMISSION OFTHE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF WOMEN ONOUR WEBSITEWWW.SISTERS.ORG.UK/INDEX.PHP/DOCUMENTS/

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widf covid-19 statementTHE WOMEN´S INTERNATIONALDEMOCRATIC FEDERATION WORLDSECRETARIAT STATEMENT ON THE COVIDPANDEMIC, JUNE 2020

WIDF expresses its solidarity, in par-ticular with the women and children

of the world, and renews its appreciationto the medical and health personnel com-mitted worldwide at the forefront to com-bat and prevent the pandemic.

We especially thank the women whomake up 70% of the personnel involvedin assistance and care work, who havemade an unparalleled contribution asfront-line assistants, health professionals,volunteers from non-governmental, sci-entific associations, or providing essentialservices that have allowed the rest oftheir communities to live in personal iso-lation during quarantine.

Government responses show thatthere are notable differences in healthcare, and these differences are based onclass, gender, origin, social systems ingeographic areas, etc.

Countries with public health systemsfocused on people’s well-being and envi-ronmental security, and non-profit organi-sations, have better conditions to preventthe spread of the virus and significantlyreduce its impact on communities.

In capitalist and neoliberal countries,with privatised health systems based onthe profit objective, the pandemic hasadded more damage to the pre-existingones: social inequalities have widenedand exacerbated discrimination, exploita-tion, violence against women and girlswho have endured these attacks in con-finement.

It is unacceptable that in the 21st cen-tury there are public health systems thatcannot cope with habitual or urgent situa-tions because the State and the monopo-lies consider people’s lives and needs as‘costs’.

The problems in the countriesoppressed by hunger and poverty havebeen aggravated or strangled by debtand structural adjustments, as well as byausterity policies.

We strongly condemn Zionist policies,continued military occupation, colonisa-tion and settlement construction inPalestine, supported by the administra-tion of the United States.

We reject the occupation of Israel insouthern Lebanon and on the occupiedSyrian Golan.

We call on the international communityto speak out and reaffirm the right of thePalestinian people to establish their inde-pendent state in their own land, and thereturn of refugees in accordance withResolution 194.

We denounce the intensification ofimperialist actions in different regions ofthe world, the economic blockade againstCuba, the attempted military aggressionagainst Venezuela, at a time when thesepeoples are fighting to combat the Covid-

19 pandemic WIDF repudiates the economic sanc-

tions imposed on Zimbabwe by theUnited States and the European Union,

THE Covid-19 crisis has compoundedpre-existing gender inequality faced

by women across our society, withwomen from BAME communities at fargreater levels of inequality.

The majority of workers in the healthand social care sector are women – 77%and 83% respectively. The shortage ofPPE put them and their families at riskand saw them working for long hours andon wages that do not reflect their socialworth. Underfunding of the NHS andstaffing shortages were prevalent prior tothe Covid-19 crisis so it is vital that NHSfunding is increased and must include asalary review, bringing back in-housepreviously outsourced services and rein-statement of bursaries for student doc-tors, nurses and other health profession-als. The shocking state of our social careprovision has been starkly exposed dur-ing the Covid-19 crisis. Local councilsshould be given the powers to providesocial care and to take over private careproviders, employing staff on comparableNHS pay and conditions.

The closure of restaurants, retail shopsand leisure facilities has affected youngwomen workers to a greater extent thanyoung men – 36% compared to 25%. Thepossibility of these sectors closing per-manently will therefore have a greaterimpact on women’s employment. Therehas been little change in the gender paygap since 2012 and despite it beinggrounds for unfair dismissal 54,000women a year are known to lose their jobdue to pregnancy or maternity. As thelockdown is eased women’s employmentrights are likely to be at greater risk.

When the lockdown is eased and peo-ple are permitted to return to their work-places, employers should be mandated

to set out their health and safety policiesin respect of social distancing and appro-priate PPE where needed, fully involvingtrade unions and/or the Health & SafetyExecutive. Employees should be freefrom intimidation in exercising theiremployment rights if they believe they areat risk. Years of funding cuts to localauthorities and the HSE must be reinstat-ed to enable and enforce this.

The Covid-19 crisis has exposed theparlous state of our health and socialcare services as well as the precarioussituation for many workers and their fami-lies. It has highlighted the social and eco-nomic inequality in our society, particular-ly for millions of women. Before this cri-sis, women already constituted the major-ity of people living in poverty, were morelikely to be in low paid or insecureemployment and struggling with debt.Women continue to carry out the majorityof unpaid work, caring for children, elder-ly and vulnerable adults and are at ahigher risk of domestic violence.

In charting the way forward, theGovernment has an opportunity to rejectthe corroding values associated with ram-pant consumerism and avaricious individ-ualism, and build on the desire of peopleto act collectively in the interests of thewider community. It is imperative that theGovernment rejects austerity as a wayout of the economic downturn and looksto rebuilding the economy though growthparticularly those environmentally andsocially useful industries, businesses andsocial enterprises.

READ THE FULL NAW SUBMISSION TO THEGOVERNMENT WOMEN AND EQUALITIESSELECT COMMITTEE ON WWW.SISTERS.ORG.UK/INDEX.PHP/DOCUMENTS/

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which have lasted almost two decades,and we call for an end to the sanctionsthat are more urgent today due to theimpact of the coronavirus pandemic(Covid-19), that affects Africa and theworld.

The Venezuelan people in the midst ofthe Pandemic suffer the consequences ofthe sustained and criminal aggression ofthe US government and its Europeanallies, which seek to restore their domi-nance over the country. The WIDFdenounces and condemns all the inter-ventionist actions of the United StatesGovernment.

The right-wing fascist agenda of theruling parties and governments have triedto normalise their regimes and states ofsiege, and have pushed people intoextreme misery and further discrimina-tion.

covid impact in britain

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members. The next will be a

“virtual” meeting on

Saturday 25 July.

If you would like to attend

please contact the Secretary

on naw@sisters.org.uk or at

NAW, Bridge House,

Newport Street, Hay on

Wye, Powys HR3 5BG

National Assemblyof Women AnnualGeneral Meeting

Our AGM was due to takeplace in April but waspostponed because ofCovid-19. The re-scheduledAnnual General Meetingfor NAW members anddelegates from affiliatedorganisations is free toattend and will be on

Saturday 7November11.30am to 1pm

The annual report andother documents will becirculated early autumnwith the next issue ofsisters

It will be helpful if you letus know if you areplanning to attend theAGM.

For further informationemail naw@sisters.org.ukor write to NAW, BridgeHouse, Newport Street,Hay on Wye, Powys HR35BG

The AGM will take place only if it is

safe to do so and will be held at the

NASUWT’s Hillscourt Education

Centre, Rose Hill, Rednal,

Birmingham B45 8RS

National Assembly of Women residential weekend conference

how didwe gethere?

HOW DID WE GET HERE? – an analysis of the economic and social landscape

how do we moveforward?HOW DO WE MOVE FORWARD? – social and economic challenges

Saturday 7 to Sunday8 November 2020Starting 1.45pm Saturday, concluding 1.30pm Sunday, at the NASUWT’s conference

centre in Rednal, Birmingham

Speakers include:

Laura Pidcock, PeoplesAssembly General Secretary;Marion Sharples, ProjectManager/Researcher at theWomen’s Budget Group;Caroline Underhill, ThompsonsSolicitors; Coral Jones, NHSfrontline worker

Conference costs: single ensuite room £60 includes Saturday lunch,

Saturday dinner, B&B and tea and coffee throughout the conference

The conference will take place only if it is safe to do so. Registrationand pre-payment are essential For further information and to reserve a place, email megan@gn.apc.org

Please send your cheque, payable to “NAW”, to Bridge House, Newport Street, Hay on

Wye, Powys HR3 5BG