In collaboration with Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and academics across the region The Heseltine Institute at the University of Liverpool (UoL) is commissioning a series of COVID-19 Policy Briefings to support Liverpool civic Leaders and policy makers in responding to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The most recent Policy Briefing “Racial inequalities and COVID-19: Building Back Better for All”, co-authored by Dr Leona Vaughn(UoL) and LSTM’s Dr Angela Obasi, tackles the urgent and topical issue of the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on racially minoritized groups.
The Briefing highlights that this impact is “not only directly felt in terms of health outcomes but compounds and is compounded by unequal social impacts in housing, education, employment social care/welfare and criminal justice”
The Briefing summarises the adverse impacts on Black, Asian and other racially minoritized people and outlines the need for more rigorous exploration and analysis of policy making and policy impacts with regard to racial equity.
“The need to address racial inequities has long been recognised: “Building Back Better” provides a unique opportunity to finally meet the challenge through systemic, multi-sector action, strengthened health and social care and effective and appropriate monitoring to promote sustainability and responsiveness”
The authors highlight the importance of meaningful and well-resourced multi-sector partnership in the design and implementation of strategies for recovery and the need for such strategies to be co-produced with communities to help counteract the impact of racial inequalities.
The recommendations are designed to support Liverpool civic leaders and policy makers to take the opportunity that recovery programming provides to not merely to return to “normal” but to actively remedy inequalities and truly build back better for all.