UN Chief: COVID-19 Pandemic Reversing Progress on Gender Equality

The UN Secretary-General expressed his concern during a virtual meeting with young women members of civil society organizations. Antonio Guterres acknowledged that "the response to the pandemic has had a disproportionate and devastating social and economic impact on women and girls".

For him, in just a few months, the pandemic has disrupted and reduced the still fragile progress made over several decades in terms of gender equality and women’s rights. He pointed out that since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, women have found themselves on the front line through the different roles they play both professionally and in the family, reports the MAP.

Antonio Guterres stated during his intervention that 70 to 90% of health workers are women, with a salary and living and working conditions largely below the role they play. He points out, for example, that personal protective equipment has been designed to suit a man, thus showing blatant discrimination against women. He also notes that for the large number of women working in the health sector, less than 30% are entrusted with decision-making roles.

The UN Secretary-General also denounced the trend in almost all countries of the world to employ a large number of women in the informal sector with all the consequences that this generates. Gender-based violence and other assaults exacerbated by confinement are not left out. "In short, the pandemic exposes and exacerbates the considerable obstacles women face in asserting their rights and realizing their potential," said the Secretary-General, while stressing the determination of the United Nations to reverse the tide for the promotion and safeguarding of women’s equal rights, the same source said.