Women what do

In the short term, policymakers should take three urgent steps. First, they should make contraceptives freely available at pharmacies. Second, they should permit medical abortions at home, in consultation online with a health professional. Third, policymakers should develop a minimum initial service package for sexual and reproductive health to be implemented at the start of every humanitarian crisis.

It should ensure access to contraception, obstetric and newborn care, and safe abortion care. The package should be implemented at the start of every humanitarian crisis. The increases in sexual and domestic violence during the DRC Ebola outbreak reveals the difficulties of prioritizing sexual and reproductive health during emergencies, when health-care systems are already strained.

The Inter-Agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in Crises in New York City details what governments and donor organizations should provide to women and girls to meet reproductive-health needs. For example, women are more likely to use services in locations that are less risk-prone, such as in community centres, rather than in hospitals, which are often seen as disease hotspots.

In the longer term, researchers should consider the effects of reduced access to sexual- and reproductive-health services during the pandemic. Comparing how women engage with services during a crisis and normal periods can help to analyse fertility rates or barriers to health care. For example, women changed their reproductive decisions because of the risks posed by Congenital Zika Syndrome, but this was not uniform across society.

Fertility declined more in higher socio-economic groups than in low-income groups Such insights allow governments to target programmes to where they are most needed. COVID is decimating livelihoods across the world. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the African Union and the International Monetary Fund all predict potentially frightening consequences for national, regional and global economies.

By 27 March, 84 countries had adopted fiscal measures to mitigate the economic effect on households By 12 June, the number had risen to Most governments increased either the coverage or payout amounts from existing social-protection schemes. Forty-seven countries have made cash-transfer programmes more flexible by waiving conditions such as the requirement for children to attend school and for women to attend ante- and postnatal appointments such as in the Philippines.

Some, such as Armenia, have provided home delivery of payments for elderly people. And 64 governments have amended unemployment benefits; 49 have adopted paid sick-leave interventions Coronavirus is spreading under the radar in US homeless shelters.

So far, only 16 countries have reported new or amended social-protection measures that make reference to women. Pakistan, for example, has increased cash transfers to women who are already receiving financial assistance from the state. Algeria has introduced paid leave for women who are pregnant, have chronic diseases or are taking care of children. Canada has increased its national childcare benefit, which is directed to mothers unless otherwise requested.

These policies recognize the specific and increased burden that COVID is having on women because of social expectations around caring responsibilities. Measures do not sufficiently cover workers in the gig or informal economy, such as street vendors or those on zero-hour contracts.

They are at particular risk, because they lack the social protections of those who are formally employed. Although the difference between these proportions is small, women tend to work in positions that leave them more open to exploitation and abuse, such as in domestic work, home-based work or by contributing to family businesses High-income countries are not immune to these trends: data from the European Institute for Gender Equality suggest that Women have higher representation in the sectors that are now laying off employees, such as hospitality, travel, education and retail see, for example, go.

Many women have had to stop any casual work to meet care duties during lockdown. Much broader measures are urgently needed for these workers and their families.

By 22 May, just 29 of the countries or regions for which information was available had reported commitments to support informal workers financially, leaving millions at risk Spain has committed to a universal basic income that will protect all workers.

By contrast, Hong Kong gives universal payments only to permanent residents. In the short term, governments should focus on help for informal and casual workers. For example, removing requirements that a person must have had previous taxable income to benefit from COVIDrelated relief, and ensuring that unemployment benefits and statutory sick pay meet basic needs.

This is also a time for innovation. New Zealand, for example, is suggesting a four-day working week to mitigate rising unemployment, to support a better work—life balance and to boost local tourism. The idea comes from a well-being budget that it introduced last year go.

To inform the long road out of this global depression, we need to monitor the real-world impact of policies on the hardest hit in real time, so that strategies can be adjusted if necessary. Such research requires sex-disaggregated data on the workforce.

The UK government, for example, suspended collection of data on the gender pay gap during the pandemic because it was deemed non-essential. Such information is more crucial now than ever. Gender and its impacts are context-specific, and vary between and within countries. The data collected in other health emergencies in Liberia, Yemen or Brazil can suggest trends.

But data sets are often incomplete, and the nuances are highly dependent on race, religion, ethnicity, location, disability and class 6. Addressing some of the issues that women face in outbreaks highlights a broader landscape of inequalities.

Policymakers must consider and support all those at the margins. Our critics might advocate for other priorities. Steps must be taken at three stages on domestic violence, sexual and reproductive health, and jobs. States must learn from problems and solutions during previous outbreaks, and from the first wave of COVID It must follow up with guidelines for best practice.

Such guidance should be integrated into domestic preparedness strategies, detailing which budget lines and indicators to track in national data sets, such as disaggregated case rates, morbidity, mortality, unemployment, crime and so on.

This differs from global statistics, which show more deaths in men. In Kenya, a survey found that more women than men reported a complete loss of income or employment Can other nations adapt their policies accordingly?

About UN Women. Work and priorities UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. Status of women Gender equality is not only a basic human right, but its achievement has enormous socio-economic ramifications. To help Member States implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it, and to forge effective partnerships with civil society.

Historical perspective For many years, the United Nations faced serious challenges in its efforts to promote gender equality globally, including inadequate funding and no single recognized driver to direct UN activities on gender equality issues. UN Women Strategic Plan. If she consults you before quitting her job or buying a property, be assured that you have found the perfect partner to spend a lifetime with. Please Click Here to subscribe other newsletters that may interest you, and you'll always find stories you want to read in your inbox.

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