Defending and enhancing our public services against the far right | Read op-ed by Magdalena Sepúlveda and Rosa Pavanelli In Mediapart

Mediapart, one of the best-known French media, published this 17 June an open editorial signed by magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona and Rosa Pavanelli, GI-ESCR and Public Services International Directors on the impact of the pandemic and the urgent need to defend and strengthen public services, hence also democracy as a whole.

The impact of the pandemic is now cruelly different depending on where you live and how much money you have. It is through solidarity mechanisms that we can build fairer societies: defending public services is also defending democracy.

In Paris, Mexico City and Cape Town, the arguments are the same: once the crisis is over, the measures taken to support those most affected by it must be reversed. This means a return to the traditional cuts in hospital budgets, social welfare benefits, and freezing the salaries of public sector workers. It will also mean more privatisation of water, health and education services, including the commodification of personal care, which will lead to more exploitation of women's labour.

It seems that this pandemic has taught us nothing.

Read the open editorial on Mediapart.

Photo: Mediapart website.