The impacts of COVID19 has been exacerbated for women and girls, across every sector – from the increase in gender based violence with access to support services being disrupted or made even more inaccessible; to the economic impacts felt by women who work in the informal sector, generally able to earn and save less; to the increase in care-work with children out of school and older persons being more vulnerable.
The pandemic has exposed failures in our systems, that is already highly limited and underfunded, to be able to adequately attend to these issues. As we continue the work of building our #NewNormal, we need to ensure that we commit to creating more equal, inclusive and resilient communities.
Here are our 10 demands this #IWD2021 to #BuildBackBetter:
– Increase access to justice by stopping impunity and sensitizing service providers who are at the forefront of combating issues of gender-based violence and discrimination.
– Promote governance models and ensure participation of women in all sectors of society.
– Improve the working conditions of women and ensure workplaces are safe spaces for everyone and are conducive environments for working mothers.
– Improve equitable access to recovery policies and economic stimulus packages and ensure they adequately respond to women’s needs in order to promote women’s economic empowerment
– Ensure sex-disaggregated data collection to inform recovery policies and ensure effective monitoring
– Include gender-responsive budgeting in order to ensure accountability and transparency towards implementing policies and to ensure that public spending is effective, efficient and reaches those who need it most.
– Include the voices and concerns of women and girls with disabilities to ensure more accessible service provision and promote wider social support
– Strengthen the resilience of women in the informal sector by working with them to develop informed strategies that account for their specific needs
– Prioritize SRH services as an essential health service, allocate resources to build comprehensive referral systems and ensure adequate service delivery for those with limited access to healthcare facilities-
– Allocate comprehensive resources for the care of elderly women, to protect them from abuse and discrimination and to move towards a more multifaceted approach to support
#IWD2021, we call on the Government to #ChooseToChallenge the inequality in our systems, and work to create a more inclusive and equitable community!
8 March 2021