Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) and Third World Network (TWN) are leading a Feminists for a People’s Vaccine (FPV) Campaign for equitable, accessible and affordable COVID-19 vaccines, drugs, therapeutics, and equipment (access to medicines or A2M for short).

The FPV campaign builds knowledge through analysis and action. An evolving set of Issue Papers combine feminists analysis with salient information on the latest developments on such key issues as the TRIPS Waiver proposal led by India and South Africa at the WTO. The Issue Papers are designed to serve as a resource for feminists and other organizations for understanding the complex politics and processes at work, and trigger engagement and deeper discussions on the way forward to more equitable A2M.

Feminists For a People's Vaccine

Feminists for a People's Vaccine
Issue Paper #2
International Trade and Investment Rules, Intellectual Property Rights and COVID-19:A Perspective from the South

Issue Paper #2

Feminists for a People's Vaccine
Issue Paper #1
Access to Medicines_ Why Should Feminists Care

Issue Paper #1

With Sonia Corrêa and Gita Sen

Indian feminist economist, Gita Sen and Brazilian feminist author Sonia Corrêa discuss the obstacles to access to medicines in general, and in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Gita shares an evaluation of where we are today in this journey, and what can be learnt from previous experiences, such as the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the 1990s. 
What does the Intellectual Property and Patents system have to do with it? 
Listen, learn and take action!

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Gita Sen is a Southern feminist activist and academic working on gender equality and women’s human rights. She holds a PhD in Economics from Stanford University and is adjunct professor of global health and population at the Harvard School of Public Health. She is Director and Distinguished Professor of the Ramalingaswami Centre at the Public Health Foundation of India. Her work has ranged widely, spanning poverty, population policies, human development, labour markets, and women’s health and it has helped to advance the global paradigm shift towards sexual and reproductive health and rights. Her books include: "Development, Crises and Alternative Visions: Third World Women’s Perspectives" and "Remaking Social Contracts: Feminists in a Fierce New World". She is a founding member and current General Co-coordinator of DAWN.


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Sonia Corrêa is a Brazilian feminist activist working on gender equality, health & sexuality. She is the founder of one of Brazil’s first feminist NGOs (SOS Corpo, 1981).  Sonia is a research associate at the Brazilian Interdisciplinary Association for AIDS (ABIA), and co-chairs Sexuality Policy Watch (SPW). She is a prolific author with dozens of publications in several languages, such as “Population and Reproductive Rights: Feminist Perspectives from the South” and “Weighing Up Cairo: Evidence from Women in the South”. Sonia has lectured at various academic institutions, more recently at the Department of Gender Studies at LSE. Sonia was DAWN’s SRHR Research Coordinator and is a DAWN Board member. She is currently working on anti-gender politics globally.

Why Should Feminists Care about Access to Medicines in the Context of Covid-19?

With Nidhi Goyal and Vanita Mukherjee

Feminist activist Vanita Mukherjee (DAWN) talks to Indian disability and gender rights activist Nidhi Goyal (Rising Flame) about the experiences of women with disabilities during the pandemic. Nidhi, who’s also a stand-up comedian, and has recently been appointed to the UN Women Executive Director’s advisory group, reflects on access to vaccines for people with disabilities as well as other themes often left on the sidelines of the broader Right to Health debate. Have we unpacked the whole idea of what access looks like for people in all their diversity? Listen, learn and join the conversation!

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Nidhi Goyal is an Indian disability and gender rights activist who has been appointed to the UN Women Executive Director's advisory group. Goyal is the founder and executive director of Mumbai-based NGO Rising Flame and works in the areas of sexuality, gender, health and rights for women and girls with disabilities. She is also a stand-up comedian.

Vanita Mukherjee is a feminist activist and researcher. She co-leads DAWN’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) thematic analysis team. Vanita has been a part of the feminist movement and social movements in Kerala, including the fishworkers’ movement, and the science movement (1980s). She has worked with feminist groups and networks in various capacities, contributing to advocacy, capacity building, and action-research. She was DAWN’s Regional Coordinator for South Asia and is currently a member of DAWN’s Executive Committee. She holds a MA in Gender Studies from the Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University, Holland, and a bachelor’s degree in biology. Vanita was a Program Officer at the Ford Foundation’s New Delhi office, where she developed the Civil Society & Social Justice, and the Gender, Sexuality, & Reproductive Justice portfolios. She also worked as Senior Advisor.

Disability, Gender and Access to Medicines

With Molly Jagpal and Chee Yoke Ling 

We are all familiar with the right to health as a human right. But what about so-called Intellectual Property Rights? What does it have to do with Health as a human right? Malayan expert lawyer Chee Yoke Ling explains how Intellectual Property systems operate under international law, how this leads to patent monopoly and why it undermines Access to Medicines to people all over the world. Listen, learn, and take action!

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Ms Chee Yoke Ling is the Director of Programmes at Third World Network (TWN) and works from its international secretariat in Malaysia. Ms Chee trained in international law, with degrees from the University of Malaya (Malaysia) and Cambridge University (UK). She has been involved in sustainable development work since the 1980s and is a teacher of public interest law at the Faculty of Law, the University of Malaya. She was part of the Malaysian Government delegation to the 1992  United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro and provided technical support to the Chair of the Group of 77 in the negotiation of the Rio Declaration. She has participated as an accredited observer in the Commission on Sustainable Development, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Ms Chee has also worked closely with key officials from several developing countries on the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing related to genetic resources and traditional knowledge. She has published several articles on a wide range of issues and is currently a lead author in the chapter on Sustainable Development and Equity of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group III on Mitigation. She is also a visiting scholar at the Minzu University in Beijing and a Board member of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation.


Ms Jagpal is a Senior Consultant on Access to Medicines at DNDi, The Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, a non-profit drug research and development organization that creates new treatments for neglected diseases in the Global South. Ms Jagpal leads the DNDi communications strategy for South East Asia by anchoring messaging to the organization's mission and strategic narrative while working with important global partners at HQ (Geneva) and in local markets to propel DNDi's goals and help the most neglected patients. Ms Jagpal has excelled in giving visibility through authentic communications to DNDi and has contributed greatly to local policy and public affairs efforts. Ms Jagpal holds degrees from London Metropolitan University and University of the Arts London. She has an extensive international career, having worked as the Executive Director of the British Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (BMCC), as Country Director of Conferences for the Mumbai-based Expomedia Group Plc, and as a Strategic Corporate Relations Consultant for the Finance Accreditation Agency (FAA) in Kuala Lumpur.

The Right to Health: Patent Monopoly and Access to Medicines

The WTO Ministerial Conference—one of the most important events in the organization’s calendar, when State representatives gather—is approaching. On the week of June 13th, the TRIPS Waiver will be on the agenda of the day and pressure for a consensus will be high. 

Since its tabling, the EU and the US have pulled out all the tricks in their hats in an attempt to block the measure designed to fight vaccine inequality. Listen to the discussion between Clara Alves (MSF Brazil) and Sangeeta Shashikant (TWN), who has been at the forefront of the advocacy work at the WTO. Sangeeta shares her precious perceptions about the measure, multilateralism issues, pandemic preparedness and activism.

Clara Alves is Humanitarian Affairs and Advocacy Specialist specialist at Doctors without Borders (MSF) in Brazil. She is an access to medicines activist, has a degree in International Relations, a Master's in Public Health from the Rio de Janeiro State University (IMS/UERJ).

Sangeeta Shashikant is a legal and policy advisor for Third World Network. She obtained her Masters in Laws from the University College London and her Bachelors in Laws, from the University of Malaya.

If Not Now, When? The Need to Adopt the TRIPS Waiver

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