Examining policy solutions to address the impact of COVID-19 on women in the Global South

Overview:

COVID-19 has become an unprecedented global crisis. The pandemic and its associated economic crisis have exposed deep structural inequalities around the world, with disproportionate effects on women and girls. This webinar will discuss possible policy solutions to support women impacted by COVID-19 in the Global South. A diverse panel of key policy experts from the worlds of international development will discuss various policy issues such as how governments should be addressing the various COVID-19 and gender issues, how governments should be funding COVID-19 response to meet the needs of the most vulnerable, and what are short term policy solutions (3-6 months) and long term policy solutions (3-5 years).

This is the eighth and last event in a series of research-to-practice Webinar on the gender dimensions of COVID-19 organized by the Women’s Empowerment in Development (WED) Lab at McGill in partnership with the Institute for the Study of International Development and made possible thanks to funding from the Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women (GrOW 2) program, a multi-funder initiative by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Canada’s International Development Research Centre.

Description:

By mid-August 2020, health actors had confirmed more than 20.1 million cases of COVID-19, including more than 735,000 deaths in 213 countries around the world. While these figures are high, they do not adequately depict the gravity of the pandemic. As a result of restricting movement, halting travel, closing business, and disrupting global supply chains, COVID-19 has affected every aspect of human life.

As with other pandemics in recent history, women are particularly vulnerable. COVID-19 has further aggravated structural inequalities that systematically disadvantage women. Given the current challenges, it is important to focus attention on the possible policy solutions to address the gender dimensions of COVID-19.

Featuring:

• Vera Songwe (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa)
• Carolina Trivelli (Former Minister of Development and Social Inclusion - Peru)
• Caren Grown (World Bank)
• Reneta Lambreva (Global Affairs Canada)