As COVID-19 pushes more into poverty, ‘Day of Solidarity’ presses for bolder action

HERE’S a day companies could grant their employees a few hours of no-strings-attached paid leave. Be sure to calendar this Friday, May 22: More than 400 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are calling for a day of solidarity to highlight bolder community action for those who have been overlooked as the COVID-19 crisis takes its toll. There won’t be local rallies to attend, but there’s plenty of digital action on the agenda.

Some of the organisations include Action for Sustainable Development, Global Citizen, Oxfam and Save the Children.

While the narrative we hear from government officials is often, “the virus doesn’t discriminate,” the evidence from Western countries suggests that the elderly, the working poor, those with underlying health problems, people of colour, and women and girls are among the groups at highest risk from suffering from the novel coronavirus — whether they suffer the social and economic impacts or, in the worst case, death.

The long-term effects will be with society for years, as media reports have suggested half a billion people could fall into poverty due to this crisis.

To that end, the international NGOs backing today’s day of solidarity said in a public statement: “We are strongly committed to ensuring that civil society organisations and volunteers play a critical role in supporting community action and ensuring that those who are most often marginalised are not left behind through this challenging time ... but we expect world leaders to ensure key measures are addressed to build a fairer future.”

In the corporate world, while there are some business leaders who have stepped up during this pandemic, so far, the global business community has been better at communicating a response to this crisis than actually executing action to address it.

True, there have been many successful one-off responses to the pandemic, but critics can point to three problems as to why not everyone is agreed the overall corporate response has been effective.

The mass lay-offs and furloughs say enough, and many companies have either been slow to enact or pushed back against additional pay and protections for essential workers.

Finally, evidence suggests that while many working-class and middle-class people are facing financial ruin, the wealthiest at a macro level have become richer during this crisis.

Hence, these NGOs are calling on the public to help them take on the COVID-19 crisis. Leon Kaye