Solidarity is the cure, Justice the vaccine

Dear Friends of TNI,

As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds across the world, we hope this finds you
 safe and well.



Based here in Europe, able to self-isolate at home, and supported by a 
public system (however battered after years of privatization, deregulation 
and austerity), my sense of privilege is overwhelming. Back in my home
 country, South Africa, where a fifth of people live with another 
debilitating virus - HIV, most people have never known functioning public
 services, and few can (afford to) self-isolate, I fear the coming pandemic
 will be devastating. The same is true of many places in the world,
 particularly in the South.



At TNI, we are acutely aware of how this crisis amplifies the inequalities
 and injustices of our socio-economic systems, and how these threaten the
 public interest under conditions of a pandemic. Indeed, this crisis
 vindicates decades of work arguing for robust and democratically owned and
 controlled public services.



We have been warned to expect more such viral epidemics in the future. This 
has much to do with factory farming of animals, as well the expansion of
 agroindustry into the last remaining wildlife habitats. It highlights yet
 another reason (environmental breakdown and climate change being others)
 for urgent transformation of agro-industrial modes of production.



Now is the time to propel the ideas we would like to see in movement 
towards a more cooperative, sustainable, resilient and social world.



Over the coming weeks, we hope to provide excellent analyses as well as
 webinars on how we can ensure that the public response to this crisis 
prioritises those most vulnerable to the virus and does not reward the powerful
 who seek to profit from it. We also must ensure this moment is used to push
 for fundamental system change that puts people and planet before profit.



We are calling on you to share with us any work you are doing, for inclusion 
in this collective resource of a people’s response to Covid-19.


Our first step will be a webinar at 4pm CET on Wednesday 1 April, on how we can 
internationalise our solidarity in response to COVID-19. >Register here

Together, we will weather this storm as we have weathered many before it.



In solidarity,


Fiona Dove
Executive Director