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Announcement: Working Group Coordinator for the Gender and Public Health Emergencies Working Group
We are excited to announce an opportunity to join the Gender and Public Health Emergencies Working Group (formally the Gender and COVID-19 Working Group) as a Working Group Coordinator. This role will support the ongoing success of the Working Group by planning meetings, building relationships with members, managing the list-serve, overseeing awards, and seeking additional […]
Germany’s COVID-19 response: On the gendered impact of invisibility in global crises
“Prevent, detect, contain and treat”: following the pillars of its pandemic preparedness and response framework, Germany’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has been praised for its low fatality rate. However, the conventional prioritization of immediate biomedical needs as the primary guiding principle in outbreak management arguably came at a cost for other systemic issues. Numerous groups paid […]
Ensuring Monkeypox Vaccine Access for Sex Workers
By Alice Murage The global monkeypox virus outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization in July 2022 when cases were reported in over 70 countries and territories. In Canada, and many similar countries, the government responded by initiating a vaccination campaign targeting those identifying as gay or […]
Using Intersectionality for Gender-Responsive Pandemic Measures
For many people across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic presented various challenges— movement was restricted, many businesses were shuttered, and learning was temporarily halted. The health systems in some regions, particularly those in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), were tested; understaffing, low budgets, and poor infrastructure were common features before being compelled to reroute, reorganise […]
Why are women more susceptible to long COVID?
Long COVID has negatively impacted over 100 million people worldwide with residual symptoms that could persist many months or potentially a lifetime after resolution of the acute infection. After a year of devastating losses from COVID-19 infection, the beginning of 2021 offered hope with vaccine distribution. However, with progression of the pandemic into 2022, discussions […]
Racism, rights and community engagement: Care, carers, caring in pandemic times
Shirin M Rai, Shahnaz Akhter and Jayanthi Lingham We have been working on issues related to care, caring and carers during COVID-19, as part of the CoPower: Consortium on Practices of Well-being and Resilience in BAME Families and Communities, funded by UKRI. Shirin Rai led the research team. Dr Shahnaz Akhter and Dr Jayanthi Lingham […]
Action is required
Gender and COVID-19 Working Group Call to Action was birthed in a collaborative process. Subsequently, organizers of the conference organized a webinar, ‘A Call to Action: Gender and COVID-19 Working Group’ to discuss it with a wider group of people. The speakers of the webinar focused on the actions needed to implement change in different […]
Food Insecurity, Hunger, Gender and COVID-19
Major disruptions to global economic, social and food systems have increased food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic and put at risk the health and wellbeing of millions of people around the world. The notable gender gap in food insecurity and hunger has widened during the pandemic – globally, and in every region worldwide, food insecurity prevalence is higher among […]
Re-emphasizing the gendered impacts of COVID-19: A round-up of evidence from seven countries
In the past two years, a vast amount of research and advocacy efforts have highlighted the gendered effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nabamallika Dehingia, Erin Oakley, Amanda P. Miller, Arjun Neupane, Anamika Priyadarshini , Anita Raj, Namratha Rao and Jennifer Wagman blog on behalf of EMERGE. EMERGE is an initiative focused on building the quality […]
What are we waiting for? GBV prevention must be part of the COVID-19 response
In this essay, Elizabeth Doggett and Myra Betron elaborate on health sector policy responses to the increased risk of gender-based violence (GBV) during the COVID-19 pandemic, measures that can mitigate the increased risk, and the additional need for primary prevention to tackle the root causes of GBV. With thanks to Sujata Tuladhar, Technical Advisor for […]
Webinar: Food insecurity, hunger, gender and COVID-19
The webinar will take place on May 10, 2022, from 8:00 am – 9:30 am EST. All welcome register here! Major disruptions to global economic, social, and food systems have increased food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic and put at risk the health and wellbeing of millions of people around the world. The notable gender […]
COVID-19 inspires women to leadership
Julia SmithAssistant Professor, Simon Fraser University The most surprising finding of my research with women teachers and school leaders, conducted for the ATA last year, was how many were determined to advance their careers and take on greater leadership opportunities, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. I led five focus groups and 10 semi-structured interviews with teachers […]
Nothing about us, without us – building the menstrual health of People Living with Disabilities in Nigeria into COVID-19 responses
This blog argues that the menstrual health of people living with disabilities (PWDs) in Nigeria should be factored into pandemic responses. The theme of the 2021 International Day of Persons with Disabilities was “towards an inclusive, accessible, and sustainable post COVID-19 world.” This theme comes at a crucial point in time, where the participation […]
Beyond COVID-19: A Feminist Plan for Sustainability and Social Justice
Anyone hoping for a more peaceful year in 2022 will be sorely disappointed. All eyes are focused on Ukraine, while conflict and instability continue in Afghanistan, Myanmar and Ethiopia, among others. The IPCCC has just issued its most stark assessment about irreversible climate change to date, and the COVID pandemic is far from over. Although […]
Want to systematically apply gender analysis? Use a gender analysis matrix
By Rosemary Morgan, PhD, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health A gender lens can and should be applied to all health research and intervention topics that involve people. This is because gender power relations affect everybody. Despite this, there has been a historic neglect of gender-based analysis in health. There is also the problem […]
How are educators faring? Pandemic experiences of teachers and school leaders in Alberta, Canada
Research, supported by the Alberta Teachers’ Association and led by Dr Julia Smith of the Gender and COVID-19 Project, centers experiences of 29 female teachers and school leaders. It reveals the adverse effects of the pandemic on the well-being of educators as they worked towards sustaining the education sector in a time of chaos and […]
How the COVID-19 pandemic has affected female entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector in South East Asia
Lynda Keeru reports back on the webinar, ‘Women’s experiences of food insecurity and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea’ which shed light on the plight of women in the agricultural sector during the pandemic. In the agricultural sector, women have experienced more discrimination and challenges due to COVID-19 […]
“Água é vida”: a luta de mulheres quilombolas pelo acesso à água em meio à pandemia da Covid-19 no Brasil
Polyana Valente & Brunah Schall O Vale do Jequitinhonha, está localizado na região nordeste de Minas Gerais e se divide em Baixo, Alto e Médio Jequitinhonha. Devido à negligência dos setores públicos e privados e as condições climáticas desfavoráveis, é conhecido de forma equivocada como Vale da Pobreza. Marcado pela vegetação de cerrado em transição […]
“Water is life”: the struggle of quilombola women for access to water in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil
Polyana Valente & Co-Author, Brunah Schall The Jequitinhonha Valley is located in the northeast region of Minas Gerais (Brazilian State) and is divided into Lower, Upper and Middle Jequitinhonha. Due to the neglect of the public and private sectors and the unfavorable weather conditions it is mistakenly known as Poverty Valley. The vegetation there is […]
The ‘shadow pandemic’ requires more than a shadow response
Lara Quarterman, Nicholas Metheny, Carmen Sant Fruchtman, and Vandana Sharma Thirty years on and the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence (GBV) is as important now as it was in its first year. Starting annually on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and running for sixteen days until […]
Why collaborative Gender and COVID-19 research agenda-setting is important
Lynda Keeru attended the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH) and the School of Public Health at the University of the Western Cape’s webinar on gender and COVID-19 research agenda-setting. She summarizes what was discussed in the webinar. The Hub is keen to develop a shared and prioritized research agenda and framework […]
Learning from Nigeria: How they responded to the gendered impacts of COVID-19
Women, men and gender minorities are differently impacted by COVID-19. In this blog Lynda Keeru explores measures to mitigate the gendered impacts of COVID-19 in pandemic responses in Nigeria. She draws on the recent webinar. ‘How has Nigeria responded to the gendered impacts of COVID-19’ which is based on findings of a report covering the […]
“Women’s Work” and Wellbeing: Experiences from the Frontlines of the COVID-19 Response
Dr. Julia Smith & Alice Murage discuss the experiences of female essential workers and how to better value women’s work and wellbeing. Date and time Thu, December 9, 2021 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM GMT ABOUT THE TALK Women in Canada and around the world have been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, as […]
Book launch event: História oral, mulheres e envelhecimento na pandemia
It is with great emotion that we invite everyone to the launch of this collective book that brings together two volumes and has the participation of 74 researchers from different regions of Brazil. Fruit of a partnership between Fiocruz Minas, LABHOI-UFF, Covid Humanidades Network and the Gênero & Covid-19 project. It is the result of the […]
Griffith Asia Institute Conversations: COVID 19 – Gendered risks, impact and response in the Indo-Pacific
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to severe food insecurity with impacts on households expected to continue into 2022. Across the Indo-Pacific we need to understand how the Covid-19 pandemic, especially the 2021 Delta wave, affected different communities responsible for food production and market sales. Small scale farming and vendor enterprises, often led by women, are […]
Why Hong Kong’s policy response to Covid-19 doesn’t work for foreign domestic workers
Written By Ingrid Lui and Karen A. Grépin, the University of Hong Kong During the Covid-19 pandemic, foreign domestic workers have been disproportionately affected by the anti-epidemic policies in Hong Kong. This group consists of mostly women from the Philippines, Indonesia, and other South and Southeast Asian countries, and they have faced enormous health, economic, and […]
Progress for women is progress for all
At the launch of the UN Women Beyond COVID-19: A feminist plan for sustainability and social justice we heard from an esteemed panel that brought perspectives, rich knowledge and experience on the core areas covered in the document. Lynda Keeru of Pamoja Communications reports back. Hakima Abbas kicked off the ‘Beyond COVID-19: A Feminist Plan for […]
Supporting community health workers in fragile settings requires a gendered approach
Experts at the recent ‘Close-to-community providers in fragile settings and vulnerable communities during crisis: Gender and COVID-19’ webinar discussed evidence from Brazil, Lebanon and Nepal. Participants also got an overview of the global situation for these vital workers. Lynda Keeru of Pamoja Communications Ltd reports back. Close-to-community health workers play a vital role in supporting […]
Disaggregating the role of women in community resilience in the COVID-19 response in Bihar, India
As COVID-19 evolved, communities and community-based organisations such as self-help groups (SHGs) emerged as key responders, making community resilience crucial to the pandemic response. However, we know little about these communities, the roles of different community actors in resilience and the burdens that they bear as a result of their participation in the response. Emerging […]
Webinar: How has Nigeria responded to the gendered impacts of COVID-19?
Thursday 4 November 2021 9:00-10:00am EST Link to register Nigeria’s COVID-19 response has been driven by the National COVID-19 Pandemic Multi-Sectoral Response Plan coordinated by the Presidential Task Force/Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 and related bodies at the State level. But has gender been adequately factored into the response? Come along to our webinar where we will […]
Will the pandemic end gender inequality for parents?
Dr Jasmine Kelland, Peter Baker, Dr Myra Betron, Dr Deepshikha Chhetri, Dr Brendan Churchill, Prof Derek Griffith, Dr Sushmita Mukherjee and Dr Dominic Shattuck explore how parenting has shifted during the pandemic and whether this has led to marked benefits for families and society in general. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in millions of parents with […]
Informal women workers and missed opportunities: The pandemic economic stimulus package in Kenya
In this blog, Carolyne Ajema, Kirabo Suubi, Naome Wandera, Cleopatra Mugyenyi and Chryspin Afifu of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) Africa Hub, elaborate on the economic stimulus measures implemented by the Government of Kenya in response to the pandemic and how these impacted informal workers. Women predominantely earn a livelihood from informal […]
Why we need a gender-sensitive pandemic management
Mitigatory measures need to recognize the fact that infected women and women caregivers get a differential treatment in villages due to discriminatory and insensitive perspectives Poonam Kathuria, Karen Pinerio, Krishna Keshwani and Neha Chavda – Jun 07, 2021 – Patan and Surendranagar, Gujarat 33-year-old Nirmala Solanki* of Bajana village in Surendranagar district contracted the coronavirus five days after her […]
A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
Lauren Diehl and Aidan Bodner from Simon Fraser University explore how US border control impacts upon the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ordered the implementation of Title 42 – providing the executive branch authority to prevent the entry of “persons or property” from a country where […]
Addressing the gendered barriers to COVID-19 vaccine rollout
With millions of COVID-19 vaccines already distributed, inequity is very evident. In this blog Lynda Keeru reports back from International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) hosted webinar, ‘Vaccinations and the genders: Examining inequities in gender access and handling of vaccinations globally to inform pharmacy policy”; part of FIP’s ongoing digital programme, Transforming Vaccination Globally, Regionally and Nationally. Equitable distribution is […]
Close-to-community providers, gender and COVID-19 webinar
Register on the Health Systems Global website Join us for this webinar – Close-to-community providers in fragile settings and vulnerable communities during crisis: Gender and COVID-19 – presented in collaboration with the Thematic Working Group on Fragile and Conflict-Affected Settings. It is being held on 30th September 2021 at 11am-12.30pm UTC/12-1.30pm BST. Close-to-community health care providers, such as community health workers, […]
In the shadows of the COVID-19 response: Informal workers and the rise of Gender-Based Violence
In this blog Lara Quarterman, Yara Asi and Sharmishtha Nanda, part of our Gender and COVID-19 Working Group, discuss the links between informal work, COVID-19 and Gender-Based Violence (GBV). The informal economy is made up of the economic activities, enterprises, jobs, and workers that are not regulated or protected by the State. 61% of the […]
COVID penalizes adolescent girls: State of helplessness of mothers
Sushmita Mukherjee of Project Concern International, India explores the topic of child marriage in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. “My husband travels whole day to sell sarees (dress worn by Indian women) to earn for the family. Now due to lockdown, the business got halted. During the un-locked phase as well, people are buying fewer […]
Child, early and forced marriage and COVID-19
As economies shut down, lockdowns are implemented and the world witnesses job losses for many, an unspoken and disastrous effect of the pandemic is on the rise globally: child, early and forced marriages. Lynda Keeru reports back on a webinar by the Child, early and forced marriage Sub-Group which explored the issues further. A lot […]
Leave no one behind in the global deployment of COVID-19 vaccines to gain back power
Amidst the unprecedented scale and speed of vaccine research and development, and the mammoth task of ‘leaving no one behind’ in the global deployment of COVID-19 vaccines, there is a need to ensure that critical sex and gender dimensions are prioritized in the evidence-generation, decision-making, and communication. Lynda Keeru reports back on ‘Sex and gender […]
Introducing work in Myanmar, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea
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Introducing work in Myanmar, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea
Kate Hawkins gives you the low down on a new gender and COVID-19 focused research project focused on Myanmar, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea
The gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic: Bangladesh, Nigeria and Kenya
To better understand the gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gender and COVID-19 project organized this webinar, ‘Exploring the impact of COVID-19 on women in Bangladesh, Kenya and Nigeria.’ Lynda Keeru and Kate Hawkins feedback on emerging evidence. In the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic and the subsequent measures put in place, the world […]
Interview with Gabriela Lotta on COVID-19 in Brazil
The first survey on the situation of healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil was launched in May 2020. What motivated the creation of this survey at that time? For many years we have been dedicated to studying what we call frontline professionals – or street level bureaucrats – in Brazilian public services. We […]
Entrevista Gabriela Lotta
O primeiro survey sobre a situação dos profissionais de saúde durante a pandemia da Covid-19 foi lançado em maio de 2020. O que motivou a criação deste survey naquela época? Há muitos anos nós temos nos dedicado a estudar o que chamamos de profissionais da linha de frente – ou burocratas de nível de rua […]
Book Launch: Feminist Global Health Security
Lynda Keeru reports back from an LSE event to launch Clare Wenham’s new book Feminist Global Health Security. Over the last year and a half we have seen a great deal of pandemic-related research published. This includes a fantastic new book – Feminist Global Health Security – by our colleague Clare Wenham. The book is […]
Award: Excellence in International Public Health Practice
We are delighted that the work of the Gender and COVID-19 Project has been recognised in an award from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health for Excellence in International Public Health Practice. These awards recognize COVID-19 related efforts that have made or have great potential to make a sustained impact on health and public health. […]
A Tale of Two Pandemics: The Experiences of Young Women and Adolescent Girls during COVID-19 in Nairobi, Kenya
In this post Eliane Lakam, Pavita Singh and Tasnim Abdi draw on existing literature and the experiences of women and girls involved with Girls Health Ed’s programs in Kenya, to provide a brief overview of the state of gender-based violence (GBV) against young women and adolescent girls and practical recommendations for policy, practice, and future […]
Canada’s COVID-19 policy and the GBA+
This study highlighted three key policy areas that are highlighted as critical for a gender-sensitive response.
Pandemic preparedness and response: New report
In this blog Lynda Keeru reports back from ‘The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response: Presentation of the Panel’s main report, findings and recommendations’ webinar. They explain what is in the report by summarizing the presentations made by speakers. Helen Clark and Ellen Sirleaf launched the main findings and recommendations of the Independent Panel […]
The pandemic is gendered: Exploring the impact of COVID-19 on women in Bangladesh, Kenya, and Nigeria
Date: 29 June 2021 Time: 9:00-10:30am (EST) 14:00-15:30 (BST; West Africa Standard Time) 16:00-17:30 (East Africa Time) 19:00-20:30 (Bangladesh Standard Time) To Register: https://jh.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Ot3E9HG_Qt-GAEeCI0UmMQ There is mounting evidence that COVID-19 has gendered impacts. Women are bearing the brunt of the secondary effects of the pandemic, changes that are wrought by societal or political responses to […]
Re-imagining menstruation under the lens of new normal
A process of monthly physiological occurrence for the 1.8 billion girls, women, transgender men and non-binary persons of reproductive age, menstruation is one of the most undermined bodily processes. For years, society has collectively regarded it as a passive event that is often ignored and kept hidden from a regular discourse. In this blog Nalini […]
Understanding the mental health impact on migrant women in Finland during the COVID-19 pandemic
In this blog Omotomilola Ikotun, Anita Navaratnam and Bancy Wawira and Dr. Jenni Martin of Women in Global Health Finland explore how COVID-19 has impacted on the mental health of migrant women. COVID-19 has changed life as we know it across the world. This change will affect all aspects of life for everyone irrespective of […]
The Gender Analysis and COVID-19 Matrix: Utility and usability
In this blog Alice Murage explores the Gender Analysis and COVID-19 Matrix. She explains how to use the Matrix to rapidly collect and analyse data and how this data can be used in decision-making and in designing larger studies. The Gender Analysis and COVID-19 Matrix is an important analytical tool developed by the Gender and […]
Understanding COVID-19 vaccination rates among Hong Kong’s foreign domestic workers
Ingrid Lui and Karen Grépin use their recently published article about the treatment of foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic to understand the rate of uptake of vaccines amongst this group. Since late February, Hong Kong has been offering free COVID-19 vaccines for all residents as part of the city-wide COVID-19 […]
Mexico, single-use plastic bans and period poverty
Ana Gutierrez , Jennifer Martin and Alhelí Calderón-Villarreal explore how the Mexico City ban on single use plastic contributes to period poverty and how this is particularly challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors all volunteer for Pandemic Periods. The United Nations Generation Equality Forum took place in Mexico City just a few weeks ago. It […]
Women’s leadership in the Kenyan informal economy
Women in the informal economy are particularly likely to feel the brunt of the economic impact of COVID-19. Lynda Keeru summarises what was discussed at an ICRW webinar on leadership in the informal economy in Kenya. There is much to learn about how these women can be supported in the pandemic response. Building capacity and […]
Eight out of ten Brazilian public health professionals report emotional exhaustion after a year of pandemic
Closing World Health Worker Week, we release the results of the fourth round of the survey “The COVID-19 pandemic and public health professionals in Brazil”, organized by Fundação Getúlio Vargas in partnership with Fiocruz, Rede COVID-19 Humanidades and the Gender and COVID-19 Project. A total of 1,829 Brazilian public health professionals were interviewed, such as […]
COVID-19 and health worker infections: The need for disaggregated intersectional data
During world health worker week, Oluwatobi Ogundele and Margaret Walton-Roberts take stock of what the pandemic has done to health workers. This world health worker week marks one year of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Our ability to manage the medical complications of COVID-19 have rested on backs of health care workers, and it shows. Physicians, […]
World Water Day and COVID-19
Karen Joe and Rachel Fisher Ingraham – the WASH sub-group co-facilitators for the Gender and COVID-19 Working Group – reflect on the intersections between water and COVID-19 for World Water Day. The COVID-19 pandemic response relies on clean water to help mitigate the spread of the disease, yet the World Health Organization estimates that globally, […]
Women leaders in Bihar invisiblise gender-based violence
This blog by Anamika Priyadarshini, Shiney Chakraborty, Madhu Joshi and Devaki Singh explores how woman leaders in Bihar are addressing the issue of domestic violence. The results are contradictory, with many woman leaders denying the existence of the phenomenon while simultaneously intervening to prevent it. The study demonstrates that social norms around gender-based violence are […]
Gender and the economic impact of and recovery from COVID-19
Lynda Keeru of Pamoja Communications summarizes Naila Kabeer’s recent lecture at LSE, organised in memory of Sylvia Chant. The lecture explores essential work, labour market disruptions and contestations within the household to draw attention to the gendered nature of economic pandemic effects. In the lecture, ‘Gender and COVID-19: a feminist economics lens’, Naila Kabeer, kicked off […]
Can the COVID-19 crisis be a catalyst for gender-responsive and inclusive social protection?
A year into the pandemic, much discussion has been had on what a gender-responsive and inclusive social protection response could and should look like. Here, Rebecca Holmes, Deputy Team Lead for the joint FCDO-GIZ-DFAT SPACE service – sets out six practical actions for making these visions a reality, within any operating context. Evidence shows that […]
Learn more – gender-responsive pandemic planning
In January 2021 members of the Gender and Covid-19 Project published a brief on gender-responsive pandemic planning. Last week they teamed up with Laura Turquet of UN Women to delve further into the topic. Lynda Keeru reports back. The webinar, ‘How to create a gender-responsive pandemic plan: Addressing the secondary effects of COVID-19’, created an […]
International Women’s Day: Leadership and COVID-19 event
Branwen Millar invites you to an International Women’s Day event organised by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s (UNDRR) Women’s International Network on Disaster Risk Reduction and UN Women’s Regional Office for the Asia-Pacific. Tune in for discussion about the need for women’s leadership in the COVID-19 response and recovery. Women’s leadership brings […]
COVID-19 and young people in Nairobi, Kenya
Lynda Keeru attended the webinar, ‘The Gendered Impacts of COVID-19: Spotlighting Nairobi Youth Voices and Experiences’ and heard first-hand from young people in Nairobi. Adolescence and the transition into adulthood is a critical period in the life of girls and young people across the world. It is a period when multiple, overlapping transitions define one’s […]
Gender-responsive pandemic plans, join our webinar
We hope by now you have heard about our new brief on the importance of gender-responsive pandemic plans. If not please do take a peek. If you are short on time you can watch the animation at the end of this post. The brief explains how you can create plans and adopt methods and indicators […]
Intersections of transport, poverty, gender and COVID-19
New research examining the intersections of transport, poverty, resilience and gender concludes that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities for women and people with particular vulnerabilities in Sub Saharan Africa. The research was conducted in South Africa, Uganda, Nigeria and Kenya where there were widespread transport restrictions due to lockdown measures. Gail Jennings, Heather […]
Gender and COVID-19 evidence informs Europe-wide policy change
The Gender and COVID-19 Project are delighted to welcome new measures from the European Parliament to protect women’s rights and enhance gender equality during and after the pandemic. We are proud that evidence published by our colleague Clare Wenham has had such a monumental influence on this decision. Kate Hawkins explains more. A press statement […]
Gender, COVID-19 and the health workforce
By Lynda Keeru COVID-19 has caused havoc around the world in the lives of many, but especially for one half of the population – women. Global health security depends on women. Unfortunately, global health is delivered by women but led by men. In the webinar, ‘Gender, COVID, and Health Workforce’, experts from the Gender and […]
Mapping women’s leadership in COVID-19: Can you help?
Can you assist by making a submission on COVID-19 and women’s leadership? Women and girls are differentially and often disproportionately impacted by crises, including health emergencies, armed conflict, and climate disasters. Despite their relative social and economic disadvantage, history reflects that they are resilient and have great potential for transformative change at the household, community, […]
Periods don’t pause for pandemics
Periods don’t pause for pandemics, so in this blog Dr. Jennifer S. Martin and Victoria Heaney explain the connections between menstruation and COVID-19. They also celebrate their latest policy win – the Scottish Parliament Bill to ensure items such as tampons and sanitary pads are available for free to all people that menstruate. A piece […]
New Year round up of popular content
We had a look back through google analytics to see which blogs and resources have been most popular since we launched in the site in July 2020. Kate Hawkins gives us the low down on what you found most compelling. It’s a mixture of types of outputs, geographical settings and themes. Hawaii and Canada: Lessons […]
Migrant women in Canada: Indirect effects of the COVID-19 response
This International Migrants Day, Stefanie Machado and Julia Smith – of the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity and Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University – explore how measures to tackle COVID-19 have impacted migrant women in Canada. While only a minority of Canadians have experienced COVID-19 transmission, we are all experiencing […]
COVID-19 takes a toll on women. What are governments doing?
Silke Staab, Constanza Tabbush and Laura Turquet explore unique global data – ‘The Gender Tracker’ – compiled by UN Women and UNDP to provide scholars and advocates with a new tool to assess governments’ responses in relation to the mounting needs of women and girls as a result of COVID-19. As soon as the […]
‘Girls just want to have rights’: COVID-19 and the highest attainable standard of health
Dr Marianna Leite works on the development of holistic approaches to gender and intersecting inequalities that ensure equality of outcomes and rights for all. She is a specialist on gender and development and an international human rights lawyer. In this blog for Human Rights Day she explores how human rights link with gender and COVID-19. Most people […]
The relentless destruction of COVID-19 and the need for an intersectional gender equality pandemic recovery plan
Sabrina Campanella summarises a webinar on how COVID-19 has affected women’s equality in the process she highlights the importance of gendered pandemic planning and a feminist framework for building back better. Societal health and well-being have undeniably endured relentless destruction, provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Life in the era of COVID-19 has generated a profound […]
Data collection and COVID-19: What’s gender got to do with it?
COVID-19 unearths several important gender dimensions and implications before, during, and after data collection which Chi-Chi Undie, Nicole Haberland, Sanyukta Mathur, Isabel Vieitez and Julie Pulerwitz of the Population Council explore in this blog. In many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world as we knew it – including the world of data collection. […]
Gendered Call to Action for the Biden-Harris Transition Team
Making the Biden-Harris Transition Plan for COVID-19 gender-responsive calls upon the Biden-Harris administration to ensure that its transition plan to “build back better” responds to the gendered effects of the pandemic and provides concrete recommendations on how it can be done. Women, people of color, and other historically marginalized groups in America and around the […]
Intersecting vulnerabilities: Pandemics and gender-based violence
In this blog Luissa Vahedi, Lindsay Stark, Melissa Meinhart and Simone Carter explore the main messages from their recent paper, The syndemic of COVID-19 and gender-based violence in humanitarian settings: leveraging lessons from Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We publish this as part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, 2020. […]
Distant, not disengaged: Mental wellness, gender and COVID-19
Alice Murage summarizes the discussion on COVID-19, mental wellness and gender during a webinar hosted by Simon Fraser University Public Square, the Gender and COVID-19 Project, CityHive, and the SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue. The discussion highlighted that while COVID-19 is taking a toll on everyone’s mental wellness, threats to mental health are […]
When home is not a safe place: COVID-19 and domestic violence
Heang-Lee Tan summarizes the discussion on domestic violence during the Centre for Global Health’s webinar on “The Impact of COVID-19 on Gender Equality.” Key themes include the linkages between domestic violence and gender norms, the impact of COVID-19 on domestic violence survivors in Guyana and Canada, and measures to tackle domestic violence during the pandemic. […]
COVID-19 and Canada’s Feminist Foreign Policy
This blog by Erica N. Rosser documents the Foreign Policy by Canadians Inaugural Conference and some of the discussions that were led by members of the Gender and COVID-19 Project. The Canadian International Council (CIC), the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health (CanWaCH) and Global Canada invited a diverse cross-section of their compatriots to […]
Global COVID-19 statistics and national policy
The Australian Human Rights Institute held a webinar, ‘Analyzing Global COVID-19 statistics and national policies’ to present and assess gender-related statistics on COVID-19 and what they mean to health policy-makers. Lynda Keeru provides a summary of discussions among Rosemary Morgan (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health), Athens Pantazis (Global Health 50/50) and Sanne Peters […]
The effects of COVID-19 on work and health in Brazil
In this blog, Lynda Keeru summarizes presentations and discussions on inequity and gender that were held at the ‘COVID-19 and Gender Pandemic Framings after six months’ webinar. It explores how COVID-19 has affected violence, work and health for women and men in Brazil. It summarises the presentations from Claudia Jannotti (IFF/Fiocruz), Marcos Nascimento (IFF/Fiocruz) and […]
Can COVID-19 advance gender equality in health policies in China?
Huiyeng Feng, Connie Cai Ru Gan and Sara E Davies argue that the coronavirus pandemic revealed the disconnect between wishful official edicts and rigid social conventions in China. The Chinese government has officially encouraged women to have equal roles in social, economic and political life. Still, traditional culture and practice continue to subject women to lower social status inside families […]
COVID-19 maternal health and suicide in the United States
Vicha Annisa Adri and Madhavi Roy explore new research on maternal suicide in the United States that was shared at a recent Maternal Mental Health event hosted by 2020 Mom and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. If we look across the spectrum, women during COVID-19 are experiencing greater distress and trauma than they do outside […]
COVID-19, ‘Nested newness’ and Changing Masculinities in Uganda
The COVID-19 pandemic is a disaster that has severely disrupted the normal functioning of populations around the world and continues to proliferate indiscriminately. As one of humanity’s biggest challenges in recent history, the pandemic, along with the measures taken to protect the population and keep public health systems afloat, have threatened the health of all, […]
Mental wellbeing in a time of COVID: The voices of young women around the world
Adolescent girls and young women are telling us that they are experiencing mental pressure, anxiety and fear due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has severely disrupted livelihoods, access to health care and adequate nutrition as well as causing a near halt in education for many women, especially in low- and middle-income countries. These circumstances […]
Tips for linking social protection and gender-based violence prevention and response during COVID-19
With COVID-19 throwing a spotlight on both social protection and gender-based violence, experts from the FCDO- and GIZ-funded SPACE initiative – Lara Quarterman and Amber Peterman – explore some of the ways these topics intersect. This blog will set out core considerations for programming that integrate social protection with violence prevention or response, and highlight the importance […]
COVID-19: Scientific advances and their impact on women’s health
Erica N. Rosser, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health The Washington University Center for Women’s Infectious Disease Research and the Global Health Center joined forces to organize an important and opportune virtual event – The COVID-19: Scientific Advances and its Impact on Women’s Health Symposium. Dean of the Washington University School of Medicine David Perlmutter, opened […]
Where are the women in the COVID-19 pandemic?
Clare Wenham pointed out there were various structures of governance that had no mention of woman specific or gender sensitive inclusion in. Some of these included: The International Health Regulations (2005), Joint External Evaluation (JEE), Global Health Security Agenda (and country action packages), Biological Weapons Convention, WHO research and Development Blueprint, United States Government Global Health Security Strategy among others.
It is important to remember that the management of COVID-19 also needs to consider the affected and not just the infected. Men may be at higher risk of infection with COVID-19 but women are the most affected and have borne the worst brunt. Health systems are highly gendered and so are many industries as has been revealed by COVID-19.
What do we know about women and COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries from the peer-reviewed literature?
By Anita Raj, Nabamallika Dehingia, Anvita Dixit and Lotus McDougal The literature on COVID-19 is shockingly vast when you consider that most nations have been contending with the impact from the virus for only about six months at most. Based on this literature, there are a few recognized cross-national findings with regard to risk and severity […]
Why decision-making structures in the COVID-19 response matter to gender equality
By Boel McAteer, COVID-19 Response Governance Mapping Initiative Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers and journalists have drawn attention the gendered impacts of many of the measures put in place to combat its spread. To mention a few examples, lockdown policies have caused a worldwide increase of domestic violence, and school closures and […]
Women’s leadership in the COVID-19 response
By Roopa Dhatt, Joannie Bewa, Jennifer Martin and Ann Keeling, Women in Global Health COVID-19 knows no borders and it does not discriminate. Societies, however, do discriminate and the impact of the virus is increasing inequalities globally. The recovery from this pandemic will take years and for many, a lifetime. COVID-19 has thrust global health […]
Gender and COVID-19 in Brazil: Social impacts on women’s lives
Camila Pimentel and Denise Pimenta The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the idea that in times of social and economic disruption, women (and girls) are the most affected. Sanitary emergencies impact all areas of life, from health to economy, and the COVID-19 pandemic is deepening pre-existing inequalities. Therefore, it is necessary to consider gender as an […]
Gender norms, intersectionality and a COVID-19 ‘global reset’
By Caroline Harper The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare not only inequalities between and within countries, but the fragility of rights which many assume cannot be reversed. Gender norms, which reflect and mirror progress in gendered human rights, have regressed in many settings. Women without adequate childcare are juggling domestic work with full time jobs, […]
Understanding the gendered dimensions of COVID-19
By Lynda Keeru Many of us have greatly been affected by COVID-19-from loss of jobs, closure of schools, travel bans, movement restriction and much more. However, some groups of people have been more affected other than others, and the more vulnerable in the community, societies and groups have borne the greatest brunt. The disease has […]
Post-COVID recovery should boost women’s workforce participation: Learning from India
By Jashodhara Dasgupta As the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts, it is becoming abundantly clear that future preparations for health resilience need serious rethinking. The model many countries have followed thus far relied upon lowered investments in social protection and public health services, banking heavily on unpaid and underpaid care work […]
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Announcement: Working Group Coordinator for the Gender and Public Health Emergencies Working Group
We are excited to announce an opportunity to join the Gender and Public Health Emergencies Working Group (formally the Gender and COVID-19 Working Group) as a Working Group Coordinator. This role will support the ongoing success of the Working Group by planning meetings, building relationships with members, managing the list-serve, overseeing awards, and seeking additional […]
Germany’s COVID-19 response: On the gendered impact of invisibility in global crises
“Prevent, detect, contain and treat”: following the pillars of its pandemic preparedness and response framework, Germany’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has been praised for its low fatality rate. However, the conventional prioritization of immediate biomedical needs as the primary guiding principle in outbreak management arguably came at a cost for other systemic issues. Numerous groups paid […]
Ensuring Monkeypox Vaccine Access for Sex Workers
By Alice Murage The global monkeypox virus outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization in July 2022 when cases were reported in over 70 countries and territories. In Canada, and many similar countries, the government responded by initiating a vaccination campaign targeting those identifying as gay or […]
Using Intersectionality for Gender-Responsive Pandemic Measures
For many people across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic presented various challenges— movement was restricted, many businesses were shuttered, and learning was temporarily halted. The health systems in some regions, particularly those in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), were tested; understaffing, low budgets, and poor infrastructure were common features before being compelled to reroute, reorganise […]
Why are women more susceptible to long COVID?
Long COVID has negatively impacted over 100 million people worldwide with residual symptoms that could persist many months or potentially a lifetime after resolution of the acute infection. After a year of devastating losses from COVID-19 infection, the beginning of 2021 offered hope with vaccine distribution. However, with progression of the pandemic into 2022, discussions […]
Racism, rights and community engagement: Care, carers, caring in pandemic times
Shirin M Rai, Shahnaz Akhter and Jayanthi Lingham We have been working on issues related to care, caring and carers during COVID-19, as part of the CoPower: Consortium on Practices of Well-being and Resilience in BAME Families and Communities, funded by UKRI. Shirin Rai led the research team. Dr Shahnaz Akhter and Dr Jayanthi Lingham […]
Action is required
Gender and COVID-19 Working Group Call to Action was birthed in a collaborative process. Subsequently, organizers of the conference organized a webinar, ‘A Call to Action: Gender and COVID-19 Working Group’ to discuss it with a wider group of people. The speakers of the webinar focused on the actions needed to implement change in different […]
Food Insecurity, Hunger, Gender and COVID-19
Major disruptions to global economic, social and food systems have increased food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic and put at risk the health and wellbeing of millions of people around the world. The notable gender gap in food insecurity and hunger has widened during the pandemic – globally, and in every region worldwide, food insecurity prevalence is higher among […]
Re-emphasizing the gendered impacts of COVID-19: A round-up of evidence from seven countries
In the past two years, a vast amount of research and advocacy efforts have highlighted the gendered effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nabamallika Dehingia, Erin Oakley, Amanda P. Miller, Arjun Neupane, Anamika Priyadarshini , Anita Raj, Namratha Rao and Jennifer Wagman blog on behalf of EMERGE. EMERGE is an initiative focused on building the quality […]
