Update on 2019/2020 resolutions process

As the 2020 NFWI Annual Meeting was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the two resolutions due to be discussed were not able to be debated or voted on by delegates.

The NFWI Board of Trustees has decided that in these exceptional circumstances, the results of the shortlist selection process will be used as a proxy for the Annual Meeting vote.

In the shortlisting selection stage, two resolutions (stem cells and modern slavery) attracted a clear majority of selections from members (over 70%).

The NFWI Board felt that this was the most democratic means available to determine the outcome of this year’s resolution process, taking into account time and resource constraints and the challenges of the current lockdown period. The Board also wanted to recognise the huge amount of time and effort that members, WIs and federations put into the resolutions process this year.

This means that the two resolutions have now been adopted by the WI, and members are free to campaign on these issues. The resolutions are as follows:

A call to increase potential stem cell donor registration

There is an urgent need to increase the number of people registered on the aligned UK stem cell registry in order to provide potentially life-saving treatment to people of all ages with certain blood cancers. We call on all WI members to promote registration to the database to avoid people dying whilst waiting for a match.

End Modern Slavery

There are tens of thousands of victims of modern slavery hiding in plain sight in the UK. Modern slavery has severe consequences for the health and mental wellbeing of survivors. The NFWI calls on the Government to protect victims of modern slavery in the first instance and deliver longer term support to help them rebuild their lives. We call on our members to raise awareness of the prevalence of modern slavery throughout society and to campaign to defeat it.

Further information, next steps and a breakdown of the shortlist selection results can be found on NFWI’s website

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