We hope you are safe and healthy, and coping well with the difficult times we find ourselves in.

Since 2020, UAF A&P team members too have been functioning amid repeated lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with some countries, such as India, Nepal and Papua New Guinea more severely affected than others. As you probably are aware, we have several staff members working out of these countries, while others have been steadily facilitating grants or raising resources for the different needs mentioned by activists and defenders across Asia and the Pacific.

This new wave of the pandemic has taken a severe toll on us, not just professionally, but personally too. We collectively feel the need to take a PAUSE to contain the overwhelm being experienced due to the increasing and compounding contexts of crises that we are working to support as well as exist in. Therefore, we have collectively decided to take a WEEK of PAUSE - from 24 May - 28 May 2021.

As a feminist fund, we are committed to modelling the behaviour, we want to shape and inspire within the ecosystems that we all belong to and the world we hope to co-create. These  wise words of Adrienne Marie Brown have been inspirational for us:

“Care for ourselves and each other as a revolutionary practice…caring for each other is a fundamental piece of any future we will build. This doesn’t displace struggle, critique, or conflict, but rather deepens and softens these necessary human experiences, makes them part of belonging instead of a precursor to exile.”

Please support us during our PAUSE Week, we need it to be kinder to ourselves, our bodies, hearts, souls and minds, and do bear with us if our responses are delayed. We promise to be back refreshed and rejuvenated, and continue our work with renewed energy, inspiration and vigour.

 

In solidarity and co-responsibility,
Team UAF A&P