The current situation across Australia, and Victoria in particular, shows us that the coronavirus pandemic is far from over. Needless to say, it is important to remember our neighbours across the world where the worst impact of COVID-19 is being experienced by communities who were already facing poor sanitation, overcrowding and limited access to healthcare. In many places, overcrowding makes social distancing almost impossible, and puts vulnerable communities even more at risk. A lack of running water, soap and face masks means containing the spread of the virus is incredibly difficult and during widespread lockdowns, many families also struggle to put food on the table. Countless households are losing income, which pushes those who are already living at the margins further into poverty and hunger.
Caritas Australia has joined with a broad collective of organisations including churches, aid agencies and other faith-based organisations across the country for the #EndCOVIDForAll campaign.
#EndCOVIDForAll is asking all Australians to sign a pledge to show their support for our neighbours. The pledge will be provided to government, along with a letter signed by all participating CEOs to demonstrate the support that the Australian community has for our neighbours. The pledge is simply: ‘I believe Australia should provide vital support to vulnerable nations.’
On August 19, a unified social media activation has been planned that involves influencers and the general public posting to social media wearing a mask that has handwritten #EndCOVIDForAll.
#EndCOVIDForAll will run until the federal budget in October. Also note that the public #EndCOVIDForAll campaign is running in tandem with a parliamentary lobbying strategy led by ACFID*, in which Caritas Australia is also participating.
Caritas has prepared resources to spread the word including prayers, letter writing guide, social media posts & video https://vimeo.com/442930383
All resources are at www.caritas.org.au/docs/default-source/parish-resources/endcovidforall-caritas-parish-guide-july2020.pdf .
At the very least, could you all sign the pledge yourselves at www.caritas.org.au/end-covid-for-all and consider taking part in the face mask action on August 19?
