In May 2020, the group partnered with Passio FM, a community radio station in Uyo to broadcast a program called Citizens Report which was aimed to sensitize the public on Covid-19 prevention and safety measures. Citizens Report is a public phone-in program where a volunteer team of experts answered questions and addressed public concerns related to Covid-19 transmission, treatment and preventive measures. From January 2021, the radio hosts noticed that the feedback they received from members of the public indicated a lot of disinformation and discrepancies from the government regarding vaccine quantities, distribution and the number and demography of people actually vaccinated. They decided to investigate the case:

“We subsequently wrote to the Ministry of Health seeking clarification, but were waved aside with a response that a special committee was assigned the role of overseeing the vaccine distribution to the public. Information about the vaccination program was generally sketchy, they couldn’t present any data showing equitable vaccine distribution and our investigations showed that the major political party in the state was scheduling vaccination programs mainly to favour their members, relatives and political acquaintances over the elderly, medical staff and essential personnel.”

The group states that, as Covid-19 is a serious threat to humanity, vaccination processes should be transparent, free, accessible and comprehensive to all, regardless of gender or social status. Sadly this is not the case in Nigeria, where currently only politicians and their relatives and the rich are prioritized in the vaccination program.

Thus, the Covid-19 Ambassadors organized a three-day protest to bring to public awareness the corrupt practice of vaccine hoarding and nepotism in vaccine distribution. Next to the protest, the activists committed themselves to tracking all the data concerning the vaccine distribution. With a group of volunteers they aim to verify, track and publish vaccine distribution statistics with photo evidence. With this data they highlight the corruption and ineptitude in the vaccination program and call out government officials on their malpractices.

Het Actiefonds supported the group with funding for website development, radio airtime, personal protection equipment and camera equipment for onsite monitoring of vaccine distribution.

NB. We speak about a local action here, but we shouldn’t forget that the worldwide vaccine distribution is far from equal as well. A global, even distribution of vaccines and accessible health care is needed to overcome the pandemic. Speak up if you can and help to diminish the inequalities that lie at the root of so many global [health] challenges.

Background

On April 20, 2021, military officers announced the death of President Idriss Déby Itno on Chadian national radio and television. His son, General Mahamat Déby (38), seized the power in a military coup and nullified the government and major state institutions. Civilian movements have always been suppressed by Idriss Déby’s secret service and today, too, in the struggle for power within the government, the citizens of Chad are pushed aside and the Déby family takes over. Opposition parties condemned Mahamat Déby’s military coup and plead for a civil administration.

Action for a Democratic Chad

The youth organization Organization des Jeunes pour la Promotion et le Développement (OJPD) advocates a Chad where the power of the army shifts to the civilians. Through a major campaign, the group mobilizes the population for demonstrations and marches to force the withdrawal of the military transitional council Conseil Militaire de Transition (CMT).

With this campaign they want to achieve major systemic change, and fight for the introduction of a modern, democratic system in which the right to peaceful protest is an important pillar. Previous peaceful demonstrations have been violently crushed, leaving several dead and injured.

The OJPD is committed to the organization of an inclusive national dialogue and transparent elections, resulting in a strong civilian government. During the coming weeks, in the transition period to a new government, they will mount a campaign to lobby for an interim people’s movement rather than a military regime.

With the financing of Het Actiefonds, banners, flags, flyers and MBs for online communication are arranged.

The Romanian collective ‘Cultivă Orașul’ (Cultivate the city), sees both problems worsening in their own city, Cluj-Napoca, because small-scale, local agricultural grounds within the city borders change into real estate with a profit motive. Because of this, the access to locally grown, healthy food, decreases, as well as the livability of the city because parks and city gardens disappear.

By teaming up with the international collective ‘Reclaim the Fields’, Cultivă Orașul can organize direct actions on a local level, with international solidarity, to protect the last remaining city gardens in their city. They’re asking attention to the lack of ecological agriculture in the city because of the increasing interestest of the real estate market, and show the importance of anti-capitalist action and the right to food sovereignty.

With the help of Het Actiefonds, Cultivă Orașul organizes the Reclaim the Fields European Assembly, a multi-day event with workshops, discussions, two guerilla gardening actions, a skill exchange, seed-exchange, and a public demonstration.

Sammy was carrying a small knife with which he threatened to injure himself. The police ordered a police dog on Sammy, but the dog didn’t see any danger and walked straight past Sammy. The police dog attack failed and Sammy was overpowered from behind by the dog handler and knocked to the ground. It is unclear what happened on the ground. Police allege that Sammy was swinging the knife around and hitting a police officer in the vest. An investigation revealed that none of the vests were damaged and none of the police officers were injured. Yet two officers chose to fire at almost the same time.

Two months ago, the Public Prosecution Service again chose to not prosecute the murderous officers.

The concrete goal of this Radical Solidarity collective’s campaign is justice for Sammy, a reopening of the agents’ investigation and prosecution. The larger context in which this should be seen is the fight against police brutality, and greater safety for people with mental health problems.

On August 13 it will be one year since Sammy was killed: a large demonstration will be held around the spot where he was murdered.

Niet normaal* is a queer collective from Utrecht that works towards politizing the queer movement again and keep it away from commercial interests. Pride has to become a celebration again for those who are still repressed and can’t move freely through society, instead of a celebration for gay, white, and male Dutch. They want to specifically represent the group of queer migrants, who are in limbo with the Dutch immigration services and have to suffer an increase of violence and intimidation because of the rise of the extreme-right in the Netherlands.

To show that queer can still be a radical, political movement, niet normaal* organizes a protest on the 25th of June in the Moreelsepark in Utrecht. During the protest, they would like to show solidarity with queer refugees and migrants and show the city of Utrecht that a more activist identity of canal pride is not only possible but also necessary. During the protest, there will be multiple speakers and a protest march towards the center.

Come to the protest on 25/06, from 6.30 PM in the Moreelsepark in Utrecht. More info through the Facebook event!

At the VUMC (A-UMC) gender team in Amsterdam, patients are facing long waiting lists, outdated and humiliating diagnosing procedures, ignorance, and abuse of power. Transgenders are taken less seriously when they don’t fit within the standard healthcare policy, because they identify as non-binary, or are struggling with autism or depression. Who wants to transition is forced to comply with the outdated image that doctors have from transgenders.

Trans Zorg Nu! demands improvement and organizes a protest march on Saturday the 26th of June, from the George Gershwinplein to the Olympic Stadium, past the gender clinic of the VUMC. There will be speeches and the following demands will be communicated:

1. No waiting lists
2. No diagnoses, no gatekeeping; complete self-determination.
3. Decentralize transgender health care, break the monopoly.
4. Transgender health care in transgender hands.

Het Actiefonds supports Trans Zorg Nu! with the organization of the protest. Come to the protest on the 26th of June, share the Facebook-event, and follow Trans Zorg Nu! on Facebook and Instagram.

Festival Resistencia in Tunja, Colombia, mobilizes the youth in the fight against these structural, social issues that Colombia is facing. They do this by organizing cultural and social activities, like concerts, workshops, and sports, after which they can join the protests by throwing up blockades and organizing protest rallies. Festival Resistencia is ultimately a solidarity network around all sorts of local, cultural initiatives, that together create a network of mobilization for the youth, to join the protest movement.

Het Actiefonds supports Festival Resistencia and the protestmovement in Colombia.

The still-to-be-formed cabinet will be the last cabinet that can execute the necessary policy that will keep us below 1,5ºC temperature change, and nuclear power is back on the table as one of the ‘solutions’ offered by political parties. According to WISE, an organization that has been fighting against new nuclear power plants since 1978, promoting nuclear energy is a pitfall on the road of the energy transition that is really necessary. Nuclear power has too many problems with the storage of radioactive waste and potential safety issues to be really green, clean or sustainable.

This is why WISE is organizing a cycling protest through Zeeland and Brabant, the two provinces that offered themselves as potential hosts for a new nuclear power plant. The three-day cycling tour starts with a manifestation in Middelburg, and goes past the already existing power plant in Borsele, to Moerdijk, a potential location for a new nuclear plant, and will finally arrive in Den Bosch. Along the route, multiple manifestations will be held to make clear to politicians and policymakers that the fight against nuclear power is alive and well.

Het Actiefonds supports the cycling protest and the fight against nuclear power. Keep an eye on the Facebook page of WISE for updates and news around the cycling protest.

The worldwide aviation industry plays a significant role in the climate crisis we’re in. While the sector almost came to a standstill during COVID-19, the next few months, where tourism will most likely get started again, will be crucial. Are we going back the ‘the old normal’, with thousands of flights every day and an infinitely growing aviation industry, or are we gradually reducing this polluting industry, and do we invest in more sustainable alternatives?

Climaximo takes matters into their own hands and organized a protest march and two major blockades on important access roads to the airport of Lisbon. They demand degrowth of the aviation industry and a quick transition to more sustainable ways of travel, like the train. Het Actiefonds supported Climaximo with the organization of their blockades.

Watch the video report of the action on the 22nd of May below.