Protect the progress: Rise, refocus, recover

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The past decade has largely been a time of progress for many women, children and adolescents around the world. Under-five deaths reached an all-time recorded low in 2019, more than a billion children were vaccinated in the last 10 years, and more girls are staying in schools than ever before. Yet, progress has been uneven and fragile, with global factors such as conflict, the climate crisis and COVID-19 threatening to reverse it. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic…

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Resilience in action: Lessons learned from the joint programme during the COVID-19 crisis

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Progress has been made in the elimination of female genital mutilation, as girls aged 15 to 19 years are one third less likely to undergo the practice compared to 30 years ago. There is also growing opposition to the practice. In countries affected by female genital mutilation, 7 in 10 girls and women think the practice should end. As the global community faces the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecendented health crisis with economic, social and political…

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Gender responsive budgeting and the COVID-19 pandemic response: a feminist standpoint

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Acknowledging the need for more gender work in Public Administration, this paper engages feminist standpoint theory to analytically frame the outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic from a feminist perspective. By assessing the differential impact of the pandemic on women and men in the United States across several sectors of the political economy and society, it is apparent women face immense obstacles in the labor market, as well as in access to health, food and housing….

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Peacebuilding during a Pandemic: Keeping the Focus on Women’s Inclusion

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This year was expected to be an opportunity to assess the past twenty years of progress on the women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda. Instead, it has been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has dominated the international community’s attention and put recent gains for WPS at risk. One of the areas most at risk is the participation of women in peacebuilding efforts and peace processes, which is already a part of the WPS agenda…

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Moving Beyond the Numbers: What the COVID-19 pandemic means for the safety of women and girls

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Since the beginning of the lockdowns and quarantine restrictions enacted by Governments to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is witnessing a horrifying surge – a surge of what was already an epidemic – in gender-based violence (GBV), particularly intimate partner violence. A plethora of reports from across the globe have indicated an increase in reported cases, as well as deaths. Yet at the same time, some of the figures actually show the opposite…

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COVID-19: urgency for distancing from domestic violence

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Although COVID-19 is a major worldwide health threat, there is another global public health emergency that is becoming a growing challenge. Domestic violence is a public health and human rights issue that primarily affects women and children worldwide. Several countries have reported a significant increase in domestic violence cases since the COVID-19-induced lockdowns and physical distancing measures were implemented. The COVID-19 health crisis is exacerbating another pre-existing public health problem by increasing the severity and…

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COVID-19 and Child Marriage in West and Central Africa

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The COVID-19 pandemic may cause 13 million additional child marriages by 2030, and West and Central Africa will be severely affected unless multi-sectoral, comprehensive efforts to end child marriage are accelerated in the region. This joint brief from Girls Not Brides and Plan International outlines the impacts of the pandemic on child marriage. It provides recommendations and an urgent call for action for governments, regional bodies and humanitarian actors to ensure that girls and young women’s…

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From insight to action: Gender equality in the wake of COVID-19

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The impacts of crises are never gender neutral, and COVID-19 is no exception. While men reportedly have a higher fatality rate, women and girls are especially hurt by the resulting economic and social fallout. Impacts on women and girls have worsened across the board. Women are losing their livelihoods faster because they are more exposed to hard-hit economic sectors. According to a new analysis commissioned by UN Women and UNDP, by 2021 around 435 million…

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Building back equal: Girls’ back to school guide

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This guide provides targeted inputs to ensure continuity of learning during school closures, and comprehensive, timely and evidence-based plans for reopening schools in a way that is safe, gender-responsive and child-friendly, and meets the needs of the most marginalised girls.   Download

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COVID-19 Aftershocks: Access denied: Teenage pregnancy threatens to block a million girls across sub-Saharan Africa from returning to school

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The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked unprecedented havoc on children, families and communities around the globe, disrupting vital services and putting millions of lives at risk. Since March, attempts to avert the global health crisis have seen nationwide school closures in 194 countries, affecting nearly 1.6 billion learners – over 90 per cent of the world’s school-going population. For the most vulnerable children, especially girls, accessing education and staying in school is hard enough. The pandemic…

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