Josie Bird’s Presidential Charity

NOMADESC

Josie Bird is a committed internationalist. So, given the opportunity to name her presidential charity for this year, there was little question that she’d choose NOMADESC, an organisation with such “strong emotional resonance” for her. NOMADESC is a human rights organisation which works to support communities, trade unions and social movements in southwest Colombia.

“NOMADESC helps people live fulfilling lives in incredibly

volatile situations”.

From its roots in a public services trade union, it defends people from displacement, campaigns for justice and builds community resistance – all within the terrifying context of armed conflict in the region, fed by high levels of drug trafficking and state and paramilitary violence. Indigenous, peasant and Afro-

Colombian communities are not only caught

in the crossfire, but directly targeted.Despite the dangers people face, Josie’s

trips to the region have always left her

“energised by how much hope people have”. And she’s seen first-hand how NOMADESC helps people live “fulfilling lives in incredibly volatile situations”. As well as documenting human rights violations and providing legal assistance to communities, the organisation has education at its heart. It provides practical knowledge and builds activist capacity,

including via the Intercultural University of the Peoples, an alternative popular education university run by and for social movements.Josie is particularly keen to see UNISON donations helping NOMADESC to continue and develop two key areas of work:• Running awareness and

confidence workshops for young people, “to give them the strength to resist and the confidence to live a good life”

• Identifying people with natural leadership skills and training them to become human rights advocates and community leaders

Josie has personal as well as ideological reasons for choosing NOMADESC. The late Kenny Bell – inspiring trade unionist, former Newcastle City branch secretary and Josie’s close friend – supported the organisation, and UNISON Northern has proudly backed them for over a decade.

Like Kenny, Josie sees the problems experienced in Colombia as a “cautionary tale” of the neoliberal agenda taken to its furthest extreme – “the fragmentation and almost non-existence of public services, the absolute lack of secure employment, extreme casualisation. We have so much to learn from how you organise people in that situation”.The similarities between NOMADESC and UNISON’s principles are unmistakeable: giving people the skills and confidence to advocate for themselves and their communities, empowering women and organising for change. As Josie says, “Mobilising resistance is about bringing people together so they feel part of a collective, rather than all feeling like powerless individuals.”

“It’s everything that we believe in.”We kindly ask branches and members to show solidarity with persecuted communities in Colombia by supporting our president’s appeal.Please make cheques payable to UNISON and send them to: Joan Walker, UNISON, 130 Euston Road, London NW1 2AY quoting reference ‘President’s Project 2019’.Alternatively your branch can make a BACS payment – please contact JoanWalker atj.walker@unison.co.uk for more details.

Gracias. Thank you.

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“Mobilising resistance is

about bringing people together”