Australian People for Health, Education and Development Abroad

Australian People for Health, Education and Development Abroad, generally known as Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA or simply APHEDA, is an Australian international aid and development organisation associated with the trade union movement. It was established in 1984 as the international aid agency of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), following an initiative by nurse and humanitarian worker Helen McCue and ACTU leader Cliff Dolan. The organisation was created to connect Australian unions and skilled workers with overseas partners seeking support in health, education, labour organisation, social justice and sustainable development. APHEDA’s origins lie in McCue’s experience in the Middle East. While working with United Nations and World Health Organization-related health programs, she witnessed the effects of the Lebanese civil war and the Sabra–Shatila massacre on Palestinian civilians. She subsequently volunteered with the Palestinian Red Crescent in refugee camps around Beirut. That experience led her to propose a trade-union-based humanitarian organisation capable of mobilising Australian professional and industrial networks to support communities affected by conflict, displacement and inequality. After discussions with Dolan in 1983, the organisation was formed the following year and received initial government grants for humanitarian development assistance and overseas health-worker training. The organisation’s work is grounded in four broad objectives: dignity at work, social justice, economic equality and the realisation of human rights. APHEDA describes its approach through solidarity, equality and justice, movement-building, accountability and partnership. Rather than operating primarily as a conventional service-delivery brand, it works through local unions, civil-society organisations, women’s organisations, health providers, community groups and other social movements. Its activities have included training and capacity building, support for health services, labour-rights education, women’s leadership programs, agricultural development, humanitarian assistance and advocacy on global issues. APHEDA has worked across regions including Southeast Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East, South Africa and the Caribbean. Examples of supported initiatives include assistance to the Mae Tao Clinic on the Thailand–Myanmar border, capacity building with the Karen Women’s Organisation, women’s political leadership training in Vietnam, agricultural and gender-equality work in Gaza and the West Bank, and campaigns seeking to prohibit asbestos in Southeast Asia. Its partnership model may involve project funding, personnel and technical services, goods, or joint development of standards and guidelines. The organisation is registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission and operates as a company limited by guarantee. Its funding sources include Australian government assistance, other grants, donations, fundraising and interest income. In the 2019–2020 financial year, reference material reports approximately A$2 million in donations and bequests and A$3.6 million in Australian government funding; approximately A$5 million was spent outside Australia during that period. Those figures relate specifically to that financial year and should not be treated as current financial information. APHEDA is governed by a board elected by its members and the ACTU. It also relies on volunteers for Australian community education and overseas project work. Its identity remains closely tied to Australian organised labour, but its practical work is delivered through international partnerships and local organisations. The organisation’s present-facing role is therefore that of a union-linked humanitarian and development agency combining international solidarity, worker education, rights advocacy and community-based development.

APHEDA emerged from the intersection of Australian trade-union organising and humanitarian concern about conflict and displacement. Helen McCue, an Australian nurse from Canberra, worked in the Middle East in roles connected with international health services. After the Sabra–Shatila massacre during the Lebanese civil war, she became increasingly concerned about the effects of violence on Palestinian refugee communities. She left her earlier international role and volunteered with the Palestinian Red Crescent in Beirut-area refugee camps, where she observed extensive physical, psychological, social and cultural harm. McCue concluded that humanitarian assistance needed a broader base of support in Australia. Her proposal was to create a union-linked organisation through which Australian nurses, tradespeople and other technically skilled workers could contribute to overseas training and development. In 1983 she presented the idea to Cliff Dolan, then a leader of the Australian Council of Trade Unions. The ACTU supported the concept, and in 1984 the organisation that became Australian People for Health, Education and Development Abroad was established as the ACTU’s international aid agency. It received its first government grants for humanitarian development assistance and overseas health-worker support. McCue became the organisation’s founding executive director. During the early period she helped build its Australian infrastructure, recruit support from unions, develop professional training programs and establish overseas projects. Nursing education was an early focus, including work connected with Lebanon. APHEDA later expanded its geographic and thematic scope, working with partners in Vietnam, the Philippines, South Africa, the Middle East and other regions. Its model was based less on creating a large overseas bureaucracy than on supporting local organisations and movements through training, funding, personnel, goods and long-term relationships. Audrey McDonald was another important early supporter. Through her union and women’s movement affiliations, she helped maintain public and organisational backing for APHEDA. Together with her husband Tom McDonald, she wrote about union aid experiences, with proceeds supporting an APHEDA-linked child nutrition project in South Africa. Over time, APHEDA developed a broad international development portfolio. It supported health services for migrants and refugees, including the Mae Tao Clinic serving communities near the Thailand–Myanmar border. It worked with the Karen Women’s Organisation on leadership and community capacity in refugee camps. In Vietnam, it partnered on programs designed to strengthen women’s participation in public and political leadership. In Palestine, it supported agricultural development with local partner organisations, focusing on small-scale producers, reduced reliance on toxic pesticides, water infrastructure, roads, profitability and gender equality. It also became involved in labour and public-health advocacy, including campaigns against asbestos use in Southeast Asia. The organisation’s stated framework centres on dignity at work, social justice, economic equality and human rights. Its operating values include solidarity, equality and justice, movement-building, accountability and partnership. These principles have shaped its relationships with unions, women’s organisations, community groups and other civil-society partners. APHEDA has also undertaken public advocacy on labour conditions, gender, health, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, peace and security, humanitarian affairs, corruption and related global issues. APHEDA is a registered charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission and is structured as an Australian company limited by guarantee. It receives a combination of public grants, philanthropic and other grants, donations, fundraising and interest income. The organisation’s governance is linked to its membership and the ACTU, with board members elected by members and the union body. Volunteers contribute to community education in Australia and to overseas project work, while employees operate under an enterprise agreement. The organisation’s history also includes political scrutiny. In 2002, amid difficult Australia–Indonesia relations, APHEDA’s support for Indonesian union training was discussed in connection with allegations that Australian aid was assisting labour activism associated by some officials with wider regional independence tensions. The reference material also connects this debate with a strike involving workers at the Shangri-La hotel chain. The episode illustrates the politically sensitive environment in which union-linked international aid can operate, but the supplied material does not establish that APHEDA committed unlawful conduct. APHEDA’s continuing identity is that of an Australian union-based international solidarity organisation. It combines development assistance with labour-rights education and movement-building, using partnerships to address health, livelihoods, gender equality, worker protections and crisis-related needs.

• 2020

  Regional asbestos campaign receives support

  [1]Union Aid Abroad – APHEDAen.wikipedia.org

  The Southeast Asian asbestos campaign continued across Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, including advocacy for changes to the Rotterdam Convention.

• 2017

  Vietnam women’s leadership project begins

  [1]Union Aid Abroad – APHEDAen.wikipedia.org

  A partnership with Irish Aid commenced a program to strengthen women’s leadership and participation in political decision-making in Vietnam.

• 2015

  Palestinian agricultural development project begins

  [1]Union Aid Abroad – APHEDAen.wikipedia.org

  APHEDA began a project with Palestinian partner organisations to improve small-scale farming, infrastructure, environmental practices and gender equality in Gaza and the West Bank.

• 1988

  Mae Tao Clinic is founded

  [1]Union Aid Abroad – APHEDAen.wikipedia.org

  The Mae Tao Clinic was established by Dr Cynthia Maung to provide free health care to migrants and refugees near the Burma–Thailand border; APHEDA later supported its work.

• 1984

  APHEDA is established

  [1]Union Aid Abroad – APHEDAen.wikipedia.org

  The organisation was formed as the ACTU’s international aid agency and received initial government grants for humanitarian development assistance and health-worker support.

• 1983

  Trade-union aid proposal presented to the ACTU

  [1]Union Aid Abroad – APHEDAen.wikipedia.org

  McCue proposed a union-based international humanitarian organisation to ACTU leader Cliff Dolan.

• 1982

  Helen McCue volunteers with Palestinian refugees

  [1]Union Aid Abroad – APHEDAen.wikipedia.org

  Following the Sabra–Shatila massacre, McCue left her international health work and volunteered with the Palestinian Red Crescent in Beirut refugee camps, an experience that inspired APHEDA.

A trade-union movement international aid organisation focused on solidarity, worker dignity, social justice, human rights, sustainable development and support for partner organisations in crisis-affected or economically disadvantaged communities.

• Development assistance · 1984

  International development programs

  APHEDA designs and supports overseas programs with local unions, community organisations and civil-society partners. The work addresses sustainable livelihoods, social infrastructure, health, education, labour rights, gender equality and community resilience. Delivery may involve project funding, technical services, personnel, goods or jointly developed standards.

• Humanitarian assistance · 1984

  Health and humanitarian support

  Health and humanitarian activity is part of APHEDA’s founding purpose. The organisation has supported health-worker training and health services for displaced and migrant communities, including ongoing support for the Mae Tao Clinic serving people near the Thailand–Myanmar border.

• Labour and movement development · 1984

  Trade union education and capacity building

  APHEDA works with labour organisations to strengthen organising, worker representation, leadership, occupational rights and freedom of association. This model reflects its origin within the ACTU and its emphasis on stronger unions and social movements as a foundation for social justice.

• 2002

  Controversy over Indonesian union training

  APHEDA’s support for Indonesian trade-union training became part of a wider political dispute during strained Australia–Indonesia relations. Critics associated Australian aid and union activity with regional independence tensions and a labour dispute involving Shangri-La hotel workers. The supplied reference does not establish unlawful conduct by APHEDA.

  Source

Read more

• 2020Campaign to ban asbestos in Southeast Asia

  Indonesia · Laos · Vietnam · Cambodia

  APHEDA worked with unions, campaigners and environmental organisations to seek asbestos bans, reduce exposure and prevent asbestos-related disease. Advocacy in 2020 included efforts to reform the Rotterdam Convention.

  Outcome. The campaign remained active and received reported Australian government development funding; the supplied material does not establish that a regional ban had been achieved.

  Source
• 2017Women’s leadership in Vietnam

  Vietnam

  APHEDA and Irish Aid supported training for women across districts, communes and provinces, with the aim of increasing women’s political participation and ensuring gender concerns inform public policy.

  Outcome. The program was scheduled to continue through August 2021; the supplied material does not provide a final evaluation.

  Source

• 2015

  Expand agricultural and gender-equality work in PalestineStrategy

  Background

  Small-scale producers in Gaza and the West Bank faced profitability, infrastructure, environmental and gender-related challenges.

  Action taken

  APHEDA partnered with the MA’AN Development Centre, Asala and Bethlehem University’s Institute for Community Partnership on agricultural development.

  Aftermath

  The program focused on farm profitability, reduced pesticide use, water and road infrastructure, lower waste and greater gender equality in agricultural production.

  Source

• 1984

  Adopt a union-based international aid modelStrategy

  Background

  The organisation was created to broaden support for humanitarian and development work by connecting Australian unions and skilled workers with overseas partners.

  Action taken

  The ACTU established APHEDA as its international aid agency, combining development assistance with labour movement solidarity.

  Aftermath

  APHEDA developed programs spanning health, education, labour rights, gender equality, humanitarian support and sustainable development.

  Source

1. 1Union Aid Abroad – APHEDAen.wikipedia.org
2. 2APHEDA official websiteapheda.org.au