As the world marks International Women’s Day tomorrow in the midst of a
global pandemic, one stark fact is clear: the Covid-19 crisis
has a woman’s face.
The pandemic is
worsening already deep inequalities facing women and girls, erasing years of
progress towards gender equality.
Women are more
likely to work in sectors hardest hit by the pandemic. Most essential frontline workers around the world are women — many from racially and
ethnically marginalised groups and at the bottom of the economic ladder.
Women are 24 per
cent more vulnerable to losing their jobs and suffering steeper falls in
income. The gender pay gap, already high, has widened, including in the health
sector.
Unpaid care has increased
dramatically owing to stay-at-home orders and school and childcare closures.
Millions of girls may never return to school. Mothers – especially single
mothers – have faced acute adversity and
anxiety.
The pandemic has
also sparked a parallel epidemic of violence against women worldwide, with
skyrocketing domestic abuse, trafficking, sexual exploitation and child
marriage.
Meanwhile, even
though women represent the majority of health care workers, a recent study found that only 3.5 per cent
of Covid-19 task forces had equal numbers of men and women. In global news
coverage of the pandemic, just one of every five expert sources were
women.
All of this
exclusion is itself an emergency. The world needs a new push to advance women’s
leadership and equal participation. And it’s clear that such action will
benefit all.
The Covid-19
response has highlighted the power and effectiveness of women’s
leadership. Over the past year, countries with women leaders have had
lower transmission rates and are often better positioned for recovery. Women’s
organisations have filled crucial gaps in providing critical services and
information, especially at the community level.
Across the board,
when women lead in government, we see bigger investments in social protection
and greater inroads against poverty. When women are in parliament, countries
adopt more stringent policies on climate change. When women are at the peace
table, agreements are more enduring.
Yet women make up a mere quarter of national
legislators worldwide, a third of local government members, and just one-fifth
of cabinet ministers. UN research shows that on the current trajectory, gender
parity will not be reached in national legislatures before 2063. Parity among
heads of government would take well over a century.
A better future
depends on addressing this power imbalance. Women have an equal right to
speak with authority on the decisions that affect their lives. I am proud to
have achieved gender parity among the leadership of the United Nations.
Pandemic recovery
is our chance to chart a new and equal path. Support and stimulus packages must
target women and girls specifically, including through scaled-up investment in
care infrastructure. The formal economy only functions because it is
subsidised by women’s unpaid care work.
As we recover from
this crisis, we must chart a path to an inclusive, green and resilient future.
I call on all leaders to put in place six key building blocks:
1) Ensure equal
representation – from company boards to parliaments, from higher education to
public institutions – through special measures and quotas
2) Invest
significantly in the care economy and social protection, and redefine Gross
Domestic Product to make work in the home visible and counted
3) Remove
barriers to women’s full inclusion in the economy, including through access to
the labour market, property rights and targeted credit and investments
4) Repeal all
discriminatory laws in all spheres – from labour and land rights to personal
status and protections against violence
5) Each country
should enact an emergency response plan to address violence against women and girls,
and follow through with funding, policies, and political will to end this
scourge
6) Shift
mindsets, raise public awareness and call out systemic bias
The world has an
opportunity to leave behind generations of entrenched and systemic
discrimination. It is time to build an equal future.
António Guterres is secretary-general of the United Nations.