https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4ZaICDhfdM
Monday, August 10, 2020
BEIRUT: EXPLOSION WAS ‘AN ACCIDENT CAUSED BY NEGLIGENT GOVERNMENTS’
By Carlos Aznárez, Resumen English.
August 8, 2020
https://popularresistance.org/beirut-explosion-was-an-accident-caused-by-negligent-governments/
After the first news and the stupor generated by the violent explosions in the port of Lebanon, all kinds of rumors and false news began to circulate, trying to further poison the atmosphere of pain in which had fallen on the people of that country. In addition to the very high number of deaths (around 100) and thousands of injured, a strategic port of the Lebanese nation was destroyed. To be able to monitor the situation and the consequences of what happened, we spoke with Wafica Ibrahim, a journalist for Al Mayadeen TV and correspondent for Resumen Latinoamericano, in the Middle East.
Wafica we want you to give us your first impression of what has happened there in Lebanon since this double explosion in the port of Beirut.
This explosion is a terrible accident, a brigade was working and welding grids and they were near some fuel tanks. The workers were working after a week of total confinement and the fuel tank exploded. That blast then caused the explosion of Pier 12 which has fireworks and an ammonium nitrate store. Social networks started using a lot of imagination and throwing out fabricated videos, talking about the possibility of a rocket attack. Others talked about a Hezbollah weapons factory, all stories. No one listened to these stories, neither the opposition, nor the government officials, nor the friends of the resistance, because the port of Lebanon is not at all under the control of the resistance. It has nothing to do with that. There is an immense diversity of politics, religion, class, in the regions of Lebanon and that is reflected in the port administration, the port workers, the army security apparatus, the customs that work there.
Why was the explosion so big and devastating?
Unfortunately, it is due to the negligence, abandonment and lack of responsibility of governments since 2013. It has gone on for 30 years actually, but specifically from 2013 to date and the Lebanese people know the history by heart. Once a ship was stranded on the high seas and asked for support from the port of Beirut, they were saved and when they inspected the ship they found that it had 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate and they had to stop it and ban it from circulation because it was going to Mozambique. Then, suddenly the owners of the ship disappeared and left the ship with their merchandise there. They were never found again. From that moment on, each government left the inheritance to another government, that’s the problem. What to do with that ammonium nitrate that is so dangerous? Because any accident can be dangerous for the whole capital. This is a standing issue that has never been solved before. The last report that was issued, was by the current government 4 months ago warning that this was a big unresolved problem. Now, in view of what happened, the President of the Republic presided over a meeting with the National Defense Council, which formed a commission of investigation and they say that they are very serious in finding those responsible, or rather irresponsible, who are the cause of this enormous accident. This commission asked for 4 days to gather as much information as possible to inform the Lebanese people of the whole truth. We are waiting for that truth.
With all the description that you give, beyond affirming that it was a very serious negligence, it is clear that what happened is of interest to the enemies of Lebanon, Syria and the Resistance. If they had thought about it, they could not have done it better.
Of course. Let’s start from the fact that the consequences are very serious, and all the political forces agree that it was an accident. However, I will not lie to you it is a port that represents so much in the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund currently in Lebanon. Today Lebanon is faced with two options, and it does not have a third. Either it goes east, looking at China, Russia, Iraq and Syria in the economy; or it must fall completely, with its own weight, into the clutches of the IMF. We are now facing this situation with a port, which needs an reinvestment of 800 million dollars to become a port again, and Lebanon does not have one. Moreover, the material losses at the port amount to more than a trillion dollars. The explosion is the biggest disaster to hit Lebanon since the establishment of the Lebanese Republic; that port is Lebanon’s vital artery. It even plays a role in the Silk Road project, because of its geographical location.
Double pain is caused by knowing that this explosion affects Syria, another country on which imperialism has imposed not only war and destruction but also a total blockade.
That’s right. Syria is the second most impacted country by this explosion because it has the support of this port helps to solve its problems and this is a very big economic and social blow to this country. Therefore, we have to wait for the investigations. The security authorities are pleading with the media to wait for the results. That they will be transparent, that the whole world will be surprised by the results. We are all waiting to see what results there may be, but we still think that the Lebanese government, in parallel with this great tragedy, has to initiate a rapid investigation in order to take a correct position. They need to establish agreements to enable the port, although I very much fear that the port of Beirut will become entangled in the circle of political polarization that will follow when the heat of these events dies down. Those politicians who have wanted to be humanists’, both from the opposition and from the right, talking about human beings and feelings, about human values, are very much afraid that these values will cool down and that this will just become another issue of political polarization in this country. Like all issues.
How is the strength of the resistance represented by Hezbollah and how have they reacted? It seems that their leader Hassan Nasrala himself offered the collaboration of his forces to help the population of Lebanon.
Let me tell you that he had a speech scheduled for this Tuesday, but he suspended it because of the national mourning and to accompany the Lebanese people in this very heavy mourning that we are enduring and he gave orders to all the institutions of the resistance, of civil defense, of the infirmary, of the polyclinics, some hospitals that they have, activists in general and sympathizers, to all be in the streets picking up debris, looking for bodies under the rubble, helping people, women and old people who have been locked up in their departments. In short, today in Lebanon there is a spirit of social solidarity, of multilateral, multifaceted patriotism, of all the people who sing outside the symphony, we would say. But that is why the Lebanese government must now come out of this position of hesitation, and not take drastic decisions, not seek categorical solutions to things. To become a little more radical, this is the best time. What better time than this pain that the Lebanese people are going through due to a terrible negligence, a product of widespread corruption throughout all the time leading up to this, and be a government that can bring the Lebanese people together and make a difference.
We would like to express all our solidarity from here to you. Thank you for the informative task of Al Mayadeen and it team of journalists.
Thanks to you who are supporting us so much. Solidarity is what prevails and we know with that spirit Resumen Latinoamericano is on the side of our people in good times and bad.
https://popularresistance.org/beirut-explosion-was-an-accident-caused-by-negligent-governments/
After the first news and the stupor generated by the violent explosions in the port of Lebanon, all kinds of rumors and false news began to circulate, trying to further poison the atmosphere of pain in which had fallen on the people of that country. In addition to the very high number of deaths (around 100) and thousands of injured, a strategic port of the Lebanese nation was destroyed. To be able to monitor the situation and the consequences of what happened, we spoke with Wafica Ibrahim, a journalist for Al Mayadeen TV and correspondent for Resumen Latinoamericano, in the Middle East.
Wafica we want you to give us your first impression of what has happened there in Lebanon since this double explosion in the port of Beirut.
This explosion is a terrible accident, a brigade was working and welding grids and they were near some fuel tanks. The workers were working after a week of total confinement and the fuel tank exploded. That blast then caused the explosion of Pier 12 which has fireworks and an ammonium nitrate store. Social networks started using a lot of imagination and throwing out fabricated videos, talking about the possibility of a rocket attack. Others talked about a Hezbollah weapons factory, all stories. No one listened to these stories, neither the opposition, nor the government officials, nor the friends of the resistance, because the port of Lebanon is not at all under the control of the resistance. It has nothing to do with that. There is an immense diversity of politics, religion, class, in the regions of Lebanon and that is reflected in the port administration, the port workers, the army security apparatus, the customs that work there.
Why was the explosion so big and devastating?
Unfortunately, it is due to the negligence, abandonment and lack of responsibility of governments since 2013. It has gone on for 30 years actually, but specifically from 2013 to date and the Lebanese people know the history by heart. Once a ship was stranded on the high seas and asked for support from the port of Beirut, they were saved and when they inspected the ship they found that it had 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate and they had to stop it and ban it from circulation because it was going to Mozambique. Then, suddenly the owners of the ship disappeared and left the ship with their merchandise there. They were never found again. From that moment on, each government left the inheritance to another government, that’s the problem. What to do with that ammonium nitrate that is so dangerous? Because any accident can be dangerous for the whole capital. This is a standing issue that has never been solved before. The last report that was issued, was by the current government 4 months ago warning that this was a big unresolved problem. Now, in view of what happened, the President of the Republic presided over a meeting with the National Defense Council, which formed a commission of investigation and they say that they are very serious in finding those responsible, or rather irresponsible, who are the cause of this enormous accident. This commission asked for 4 days to gather as much information as possible to inform the Lebanese people of the whole truth. We are waiting for that truth.
With all the description that you give, beyond affirming that it was a very serious negligence, it is clear that what happened is of interest to the enemies of Lebanon, Syria and the Resistance. If they had thought about it, they could not have done it better.
Of course. Let’s start from the fact that the consequences are very serious, and all the political forces agree that it was an accident. However, I will not lie to you it is a port that represents so much in the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund currently in Lebanon. Today Lebanon is faced with two options, and it does not have a third. Either it goes east, looking at China, Russia, Iraq and Syria in the economy; or it must fall completely, with its own weight, into the clutches of the IMF. We are now facing this situation with a port, which needs an reinvestment of 800 million dollars to become a port again, and Lebanon does not have one. Moreover, the material losses at the port amount to more than a trillion dollars. The explosion is the biggest disaster to hit Lebanon since the establishment of the Lebanese Republic; that port is Lebanon’s vital artery. It even plays a role in the Silk Road project, because of its geographical location.
Double pain is caused by knowing that this explosion affects Syria, another country on which imperialism has imposed not only war and destruction but also a total blockade.
That’s right. Syria is the second most impacted country by this explosion because it has the support of this port helps to solve its problems and this is a very big economic and social blow to this country. Therefore, we have to wait for the investigations. The security authorities are pleading with the media to wait for the results. That they will be transparent, that the whole world will be surprised by the results. We are all waiting to see what results there may be, but we still think that the Lebanese government, in parallel with this great tragedy, has to initiate a rapid investigation in order to take a correct position. They need to establish agreements to enable the port, although I very much fear that the port of Beirut will become entangled in the circle of political polarization that will follow when the heat of these events dies down. Those politicians who have wanted to be humanists’, both from the opposition and from the right, talking about human beings and feelings, about human values, are very much afraid that these values will cool down and that this will just become another issue of political polarization in this country. Like all issues.
How is the strength of the resistance represented by Hezbollah and how have they reacted? It seems that their leader Hassan Nasrala himself offered the collaboration of his forces to help the population of Lebanon.
Let me tell you that he had a speech scheduled for this Tuesday, but he suspended it because of the national mourning and to accompany the Lebanese people in this very heavy mourning that we are enduring and he gave orders to all the institutions of the resistance, of civil defense, of the infirmary, of the polyclinics, some hospitals that they have, activists in general and sympathizers, to all be in the streets picking up debris, looking for bodies under the rubble, helping people, women and old people who have been locked up in their departments. In short, today in Lebanon there is a spirit of social solidarity, of multilateral, multifaceted patriotism, of all the people who sing outside the symphony, we would say. But that is why the Lebanese government must now come out of this position of hesitation, and not take drastic decisions, not seek categorical solutions to things. To become a little more radical, this is the best time. What better time than this pain that the Lebanese people are going through due to a terrible negligence, a product of widespread corruption throughout all the time leading up to this, and be a government that can bring the Lebanese people together and make a difference.
We would like to express all our solidarity from here to you. Thank you for the informative task of Al Mayadeen and it team of journalists.
Thanks to you who are supporting us so much. Solidarity is what prevails and we know with that spirit Resumen Latinoamericano is on the side of our people in good times and bad.
CODEPINK DENOUNCES ELLIOTT ABRAMS’ APPOINTMENT AS US SPECIAL
By CODEPINK.
August 8, 2020
https://popularresistance.org/codepink-denounces-elliott-abrams-appointment-as-us-special-representative-for-iran/
The appointment of Elliott Abrams to replace Brian Hook as the next U.S. Special Representative for Iran is another low point for the Trump administration’s disastrous policy towards Iran. The dangerous conflict resulting from Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear agreement will be exacerbated by a man committed to Washington’s failed policies of regime change, including in his present-day position as Trump’s representative for Venezuela.
Elliott Abrams has made a career of lying and committing criminal acts that have led to the death and suffering of innocent people from Guatemala to Iraq. He embraces militarism, covers up for gross human rights abuses, and has a history of supporting authoritarian regimes.
Abrams’ Resume Includes:
In the 1980s, he defended the infamous Guatemalan General Efraín Ríos Montt, whose violent crackdown on the indigenous Ixil Mayan people of Guatemala was so brutal that it was classified as genocide by the United Nations.
He denied that the Salvadoran military was responsible for the devastating El Mozote massacre where, in 1981, a U.S.-trained battalion murdered more than 500 civilians, slitting the throats of children along the way. Not only did Abrams deny the massacre and push for continued US support for the notoriously brutal Salvadoran government, but he even claimed in a 1994 interview that “the U.S. administration’s record in El Salvador is one of fabulous achievement.”
He is vehemently anti-Palestinian and shamelessly supports Israel. As George Bush’s aide on the National Security Council, Abrams did everything he could to thwart peace negotiations. He repeatedly undercut any U.S. pressure on Israel to stop the building of settlements and cited the Holocaust as justification for Israel’s killings of Palestinians (Jews are “a people who had learned from history what happens to Jews without security”). In 2015, he applauded then-Speaker John Boehner’s decision to invite Netanyahu to address Congress without the approval of President Obama. He lauds Evangelical descriptions of Israel such as the belief that “Israel is connected to the idea that God favors and protects Americans.”
In 1991, Abrams pled guilty to withholding information from Congress related to his involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal, the secret and illegal scam in the 1980s to siphon profits from Iranian weapons sales to support the right-wing Contra rebels trying to overthrow the Sandinista government.
Abrams was a key supporter of the disastrous invasion of Iraq. In 1998, he submitted a letter to President Clinton encouraging him to depose Saddam Hussein. As Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy during George W. Bush’s second term, Abrams was in charge of promoting Bush’s strategy of “advancing democracy abroad.”
Abrams championed the U.S. overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, echoing the tactics used by the neocons for intervention in Iraq.
Abrams’ opposition to the Iran Nuclear Deal is epitomized by his attempts to encourage Israel to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites before negotiations became too serious. He expressed concern that Israel’s capacity to impede the deal was “already being narrowed considerably by the diplomatic thaw, because it is one thing to bomb Iran when it appears hopelessly recalcitrant and isolated and quite another to bomb it when much of the world — especially the United States — is optimistic about the prospect of talks.”
In January 2019, Abrams was appointed to be the U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela, and used his position to support an attempted coup, quash diplomatic talks, and increase brutal sanctions, even during the pandemic.
Abrams has now been appointed as the U.S. envoy for Iran, managing a situation that is already a tinderbox, with the Iranian people suffering immensely from U.S. sanctions. Rather than receiving this new position, Elliott Abrams should be barred for life from government positions and recognized as the war criminal that he is.
https://popularresistance.org/codepink-denounces-elliott-abrams-appointment-as-us-special-representative-for-iran/
The appointment of Elliott Abrams to replace Brian Hook as the next U.S. Special Representative for Iran is another low point for the Trump administration’s disastrous policy towards Iran. The dangerous conflict resulting from Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear agreement will be exacerbated by a man committed to Washington’s failed policies of regime change, including in his present-day position as Trump’s representative for Venezuela.
Elliott Abrams has made a career of lying and committing criminal acts that have led to the death and suffering of innocent people from Guatemala to Iraq. He embraces militarism, covers up for gross human rights abuses, and has a history of supporting authoritarian regimes.
Abrams’ Resume Includes:
In the 1980s, he defended the infamous Guatemalan General Efraín Ríos Montt, whose violent crackdown on the indigenous Ixil Mayan people of Guatemala was so brutal that it was classified as genocide by the United Nations.
He denied that the Salvadoran military was responsible for the devastating El Mozote massacre where, in 1981, a U.S.-trained battalion murdered more than 500 civilians, slitting the throats of children along the way. Not only did Abrams deny the massacre and push for continued US support for the notoriously brutal Salvadoran government, but he even claimed in a 1994 interview that “the U.S. administration’s record in El Salvador is one of fabulous achievement.”
He is vehemently anti-Palestinian and shamelessly supports Israel. As George Bush’s aide on the National Security Council, Abrams did everything he could to thwart peace negotiations. He repeatedly undercut any U.S. pressure on Israel to stop the building of settlements and cited the Holocaust as justification for Israel’s killings of Palestinians (Jews are “a people who had learned from history what happens to Jews without security”). In 2015, he applauded then-Speaker John Boehner’s decision to invite Netanyahu to address Congress without the approval of President Obama. He lauds Evangelical descriptions of Israel such as the belief that “Israel is connected to the idea that God favors and protects Americans.”
In 1991, Abrams pled guilty to withholding information from Congress related to his involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal, the secret and illegal scam in the 1980s to siphon profits from Iranian weapons sales to support the right-wing Contra rebels trying to overthrow the Sandinista government.
Abrams was a key supporter of the disastrous invasion of Iraq. In 1998, he submitted a letter to President Clinton encouraging him to depose Saddam Hussein. As Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy during George W. Bush’s second term, Abrams was in charge of promoting Bush’s strategy of “advancing democracy abroad.”
Abrams championed the U.S. overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, echoing the tactics used by the neocons for intervention in Iraq.
Abrams’ opposition to the Iran Nuclear Deal is epitomized by his attempts to encourage Israel to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites before negotiations became too serious. He expressed concern that Israel’s capacity to impede the deal was “already being narrowed considerably by the diplomatic thaw, because it is one thing to bomb Iran when it appears hopelessly recalcitrant and isolated and quite another to bomb it when much of the world — especially the United States — is optimistic about the prospect of talks.”
In January 2019, Abrams was appointed to be the U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela, and used his position to support an attempted coup, quash diplomatic talks, and increase brutal sanctions, even during the pandemic.
Abrams has now been appointed as the U.S. envoy for Iran, managing a situation that is already a tinderbox, with the Iranian people suffering immensely from U.S. sanctions. Rather than receiving this new position, Elliott Abrams should be barred for life from government positions and recognized as the war criminal that he is.
EMPOWER HOME-BASED WORKERS BY INVESTING IN CO-OPERATIVES
By David Browne, Equal Times.August 8, 2020
https://popularresistance.org/empower-home-based-workers-by-investing-in-co-operatives/
“Unity Builds Strength And Resilience.”
South Asia is home to over 50 million home-based workers, most of whom are women. From agarbhatti incense stick rollers in India to piecework garment workers in Sri Lanka, they contribute immensely to national economies in addition to their families and local communities as working from home allows them to take on care responsibilities. Despite working long, irregular hours for low pay and often with no proper contract, home-based workers are often the only income providers in their households. But they remain, nevertheless, an ‘invisible’ and isolated workforce given little or no credence in government policies, programmes and legal protections.
Now, with the advent of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, these most vital but vulnerable of workers are facing even greater hardship, exacerbated by the three-month-long lockdown in most countries in the south Asia region. Despite the fact that many homeworkers are sub-contracted by domestic and global value chains in a bid to cut costs (others are self-employed independent operators), the pandemic has left them without work, wages, unemployment benefits or any form of government social protection. As a result, many home-based workers and their families are facing hunger and a desperately uncertain economic future.
One of their main allies is HomeNet South Asia, a progressive worker organisation founded in 2000, and registered in 2006, with the support and backing of the Indian trade union SEWA (the Self Employed Women’s Association) and WIEGO (Women in Informal Employment Globalizing and Organizing). In March, it published a ‘Charter of Demands’ for, amongst other measures, income support for all informal workers, the recognition of home-based workers in law, and the establishment of a COVID-19 recovery fund. And earlier this month, it joined WIEGO, HomeNet South East Asia and the Asia Wage Floor Alliance to call on global fashion brands to make a supply-chain relief contribution (SRC) to the garment workers whose incomes and lives have been devastated by the pandemic.
Equal Times talked with Janhavi Dave, the international coordinator of HomeNet South Asia, and asked her how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted home-based workers – and what lies in store for HomeNet’s 900,000 worker-members.
What is the biggest problem facing home-based workers in south Asia during the current COVID-19 pandemic?
The biggest problem at the moment is food. There isn’t enough food. Many of our workers are having trouble accessing government welfare and food programmes. There are not enough rations for poor people and not enough food in ration shops. Some of our workers, for example, are barely surviving on a fraction of what they would normally eat.
Home-based workers are not even officially recognised as workers, so there have been no special schemes set up for them. Migrant workers have been forced to return to their native places because there’s no work and no money to pay rent. They don’t have the proper ration cards. Many people are surviving on cooked food given to them by religious organisations. There’s been a huge under-reporting of deaths.
What other issues are home-based workers in the region facing?
The problems they are facing are not necessarily new ones. Many are the same problems that we have been struggling to overcome since HomeNet South Asia was first established in 2000. But these problems have been amplified by the pandemic and subsequent lockdown. Work started reducing in January, and there’s been no work since March. Most workers still haven’t been paid for the work they did in January and February. There’s no work on the horizon for the next six months so they can’t buy the things they need.
Our people have no social security, no pensions and no insurance. Now there’s no work which means no income.
HomeNet South Asia covers Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, India, The Maldives, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Is the situation equally bleak in all countries?
Things are much better in The Maldives and Bhutan because so far they haven’t had so many COVID-19 cases. But in the other countries the situation is pretty much the same all over – especially in the slums and informal settlements, where community transmission of the virus is now beginning to really take off.
In India, for example, there’s been a lack of resources and not enough testing. And our peak is yet to come. Lockdown is a luxury for the few. For people living in informal settlements or slums it just creates more chaos. How can you confine people to their hutments for most of the day at the height of the summer? Of course, social distancing is necessary and ideal but how can you have safe distancing in such densely packed areas? People don’t have toilets in their homes. They have to go to communal toilets across the road. And yet police are patrolling and preventing people from leaving their homes for most of the day.
But surely some home-based workers have found ways to adapt and survive in the crisis?
Yes, but only a tiny minority. Of our 900,000 members only around 9,000 currently have access to work. Some of the garment workers are now making face masks, for example. Other home-based workers are selling through online platforms. Some are moving to growing and selling organic food. But almost all of these people are members of co-operatives and are organised, proving that together we are more resilient. Individuals, people working on their own, have found it almost impossible to get access to work during this current crisis.
What are the big lessons to be learned from the corona crisis, especially with reference to supply chains?
Traditional top-down supply chains have been created by design to maximise profits and exploit workers. What have companies done for home-based workers during this crisis? The answer is pretty much nothing. Look at the garment supply chains in south Asia and south-east Asia. There is no business for home-based workers. The workers have no access to social security. And the situation is the same in Africa, Latin America and central Asia.
It will take time for domestic and international supply chains to recover and for work to come back. I think it’s now imperative that we transform our supply chains from top-down to bottom-up domestic supply chains. We need to involve the poor and empower home workers by investing in more co-operatives. This pandemic has reinforced the message that unity builds strength and resilience.
And we need to engage with home-worker leaders to embrace and exploit new internet technology to develop online selling and trading, webinars and the exchange of knowledge. The coronavirus has been a major setback and highlighted our fragilities. Buy local, sell local is the new imperative.
Last week, HomeNet South Asia and three other labour organisations sent out a joint statement demanding COVID-19 relief contributions from global brands to all garment workers to help ameliorate loss of income due to the impact of the coronavirus. Can you tell us more?
Unlike factory workers, home-based workers are not recognised as legitimate workers. We have many members who are working in the garment sector. They may not be on the factory floor but the ‘brand’ is still their primary employer. In Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, for example, we have 40,000 home workers in garment supply chains; in Dhaka (Bangladesh) we have 60,000; in Kathmandu (Nepal) there are 3,500.
We believe all workers deserve equal treatment. This is part of our advocacy strategy. Sometimes we speak to the relevant government. In this case we are appealing directly to the brands and we are asking them to contribute the equivalent of two per cent of the value of their orders in the 12 months before the COVID-19 lockdown. We want this money to be paid directly to the home workers.
Brands should respond positively to this if, as they claim, they are really ‘with’ the workers. It’s not as if the pandemic will last forever. Home workers make their products and the brands need to continue the relationship.
If we can put COVID-19 aside, what lies in the future for the home-based worker movement?
At the moment, as well as HomeNet South Asia, we have HomeNet South East Asia, HomeNet Eastern Europe and HomeNet Central Asia. We also have an emerging network in Latin America and Africa. We are now in the process of forming HomeNet International and are planning to hold our first congress this October. The whole effort is being co-ordinated by WIEGO. It may have to be a virtual launch because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The International Labour Organization’s Convention 177 on the rights of home-based workers has still only been ratified by 10 countries [despite being adopted in 1996], so we still need the solidarity and support of international trade unions to get this done.
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