Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA Takes Part in End Covid for All Campaign
On World Humanitarian Day 2020, Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA joined hundreds of Australian NGOs, civil society organisations and unions to address the worst impacts of COVID-19 on the world’s most vulnerable nations and communities.
APHEDA Masks-Up to End Covid for All
On Wednesday 19 August, as the number of global infections of COVID-19 surpassed 20 million, Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA staff and supporters around Australia masked up and took part in a national day of action targeting decision-makers in Canberra. The ask: End COVID for All.
On the day, APHEDA’s Executive Officer, Kate Lee, put a call out for members and supporters to join the call to End Covid For All by saying “I’ve signed the #EndCOVIDForAll pledge because the COVID-19 crisis threatens to push countless numbers of working people into unemployment, poverty, and insecurity. As a global citizen, Australia must stand in solidarity with countries in our region and show them that they are not alone.”
Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA Chairperson and President of the NSW Teacher’s Federation, Angelo Gavrielatos, succinctly said “This doesn’t end for anyone until it ends for everyone” as he donned a mask calling for the government to End Covid for All.
Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA’s Vice Chairperson and President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), Michele O’Neil also got behind the campaign saying “we must stand in solidarity with people around the world and do all we can to end this virus everywhere.”
The End Covid for All Campaign
The End Covid for All campaign is pushing for the Australian government to partner with global institutions, Australian NGOs and our regional neighbours to address the impact of COVID-19. Key ideas to help some of the world’s most vulnerable nations and communities are:
- Protecting the world’s most vulnerable
- Strengthening health systems
- And helping to kick-start economic recovery
How APHEDA’s Partner Organisations are Responding to COVID-19
From Vietnam to Lebanon, the Thai-Myanmar border to Palestine, Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA’s partner organisations are currently responding to COVID-19 in many different ways.
- In Vietnam, women garment workers are producing medical-grade face-masks for 25,000 poor and vulnerable people, including 4,000 school-children and 1,000 people living with disabilities.
- In Lebanon, the Palestinian Women’s Humanitarian Organization (PWHO) is responding to the immediate needs of women, children and vulnerable families and continue to distribute sanitation kits to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 in the Palestinian camps in southern Beirut.
“I’ve signed the #EndCOVIDForAll pledge because the COVID-19 crisis threatens to push countless numbers of working…
Posted by Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA on Tuesday, 18 August 2020
- In Thailand, MAP Radio has broadcast life-saving information on sanitation, social-distancing, and healthcare to communities of migrant workers in their own languages.
- In Indonesia, union organisers are distributing protective equipment to informal workers, distribute sanitation in low-income neighbourhoods, and raising awareness of the dangers of COVID-19 to workers exposed to asbestos.
- In the Philippines, the Positive Action Foundation of the Philippines (PAFPI), is maintaining its life-saving support services to people living with HIV/AIDS.
- In the occupied Palestinian territories, Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA is working with a local network of partner organisations – including the Bethlehem University Institute for Community Partnership, the Palestinian Businesswomen’s Association – ASALA and the MA’AN Development Center – to make sure that vulnerable families still have access to healthy food, and to support agricultural workers as they overcome the crisis.
- In Cambodia, the Building and Woodworkers Trade Union Federation Cambodia is working with construction workers impacted by COVID-19.
Join the Campaign to End COVID for All!
Will you take the pledge and call on the Australian Government to provide vital support to low-income nations so they too can protect people from COVID-19?