The Commission on COVID-19, Ableism and Racism was established by VODG in 2022 with three aims:
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To gather evidence of the impact of COVID-19 on disabled Black, Asian and minority ethnic people in England.
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Look for evidence of systemic racism that worsened outcomes for disabled Black, Asian and minority ethnic people.
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Highlight injustice and propose ideas for sustainable change in social care.
With funding from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, the Commission held 1:1 and group meetings to listen to people with lived experience and the organisations that work with them. Throughout these discussions the Commission made a number of findings which led to 18 recommendations for central and local government, the NHS, the UK Health Security Agency, Skills for Care and other agencies involved in the country’s pandemic response.
Find out more in the Commission final report. Executive summaries are also available in Easy Read and British Sign Language (above).