Government Responses to COVID-19: Lessons on Gender Equality for a World in Turmoil

"Countries with stronger social protection systems and public services do better on gender equality and have correspondingly been better able to weather the storms of recent years....We must...redouble our efforts to ensure that women are included in decision-making in crises." - UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a disproportionate toll on women and girls, seen in increases in levels of violence, loss of employment, and unpaid care work. What measures did governments put in place to mitigate the negative impacts of the pandemic on women and girls? This report from the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) finds that, overall, government responses paid insufficient attention to gender dynamics. At the same time, instances of innovation and learning show what governments can do to prevent further rollbacks and recover lost ground. This report shares lessons for gender-responsive policymaking in times of crisis and explores how to ensure that emergency preparedness strategies are gender responsive, integrated, and resilient.

In addition to qualitative research and impact assessments by feminist researchers, civil society organisations, and UN agencies, the report draws on a global dataset of close to 5,000 measures adopted by 226 countries and territories in response to COVID-19. The COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker monitors responses taken by governments worldwide to tackle the pandemic and highlights those that have integrated a gender lens. It captures two types of government responses: women's participation in COVID-19 task forces and national policy measures taken by governments. It analyses which of the policy measures address women's economic and social security, including unpaid care work, the labour market, and violence against women and girls (VAWG). (Click here [PDF] to learn about the methodology.)

In 196 of the 226 countries surveyed, at least one gender-sensitive measure was adopted, amounting to 1,605 measures in total. Countries with higher proportions of women in elected office, irrespective of national income, adopted more policies and budgeting that integrated gender considerations. Countries with strong democracies, powerful feminist movements, or high shares of women in parliament adopted an average of five more gender-sensitive measures than countries without them. In addition, national income played a role: 81% of low-income countries had a weak or no gender response, and the number of measures they took in relation to the pandemic overall was low.

However, women's voices were often missing from COVID-19 decision-making. Women held just 24% of seats on COVID-19 task forces, and 1 in 10 task forces had not a single woman in their ranks. Of the 262 task forces, only 7% reached gender parity. Even in countries with less-than-equal representation, women political leaders demanded their voices be heard. For example, the Women's Parliamentary Group in Tanzania championed gender-responsive public information campaigns and targeted public funds to women-specific initiatives. Egypt's Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Said chaired a task force that aimed to identify how to reduce the impact of the pandemic on informal work, where women's employment is concentrated.

Women's collective action also boosted a country's gender responsiveness. Feminist civil society groups both influenced the immediate response in their countries and contributed evidence and data to drive a feminist-informed vision of post-pandemic recovery and transformation. Ireland and Chile were among the countries where activists not only took to the streets to demand government action but also contributed feminist plans and gender budget assessments to legislative and executive discourse.

Factors that led to a strong gender response include:

• In a context of growing threats to democratic and open societies, strong institutions proved critical for an inclusive gender response.
• Feminist movements and women's rights organisations provided an early warning system on the gender impacts of the pandemic, particularly on violence against women and girls.
• Women's representation and leadership in executive positions, parliaments, and public administration was critical for translating feminist advocacy into policy action.
• Countries with robust public services and gender-responsive social protection systems were in a better position to respond, while others had to improvise, under pressure, and with varying degrees of success.
• Digital tools sustained feminist activism online and enabled policy innovations and rapid support roll-out, reaching groups of women often left behind in "normal times".
• Real-time gender data on the impact of the pandemic on women and girls was critical to making the case for gender-sensitive response measures, as was tracking what worked in government responses.

Recommendations going forward include:

• Build institutional capacity, strengthen networks, and support women's leadership: Participation is most effective when it is multi-sited, encompassing different branches and tiers of government, and when it has strong ties with women's rights advocates in civil society.
• Invest in gender-responsive social protection and public services: Steps in the right direction include, for example, large-scale investments in the care economy and renewed momentum on VAWG laws and policies.
• Support feminist movements and organisations in their agenda-setting, accountability, and service-delivery roles: In several countries, VAWG advocacy efforts were successful because feminist movements had already made progress on shifting social norms that condone VAWG, established it as an area for government intervention, and built networks with policy insiders.
• Strengthen production and use of data and evidence on gender equality during crises: Promising avenues for future research include: focusing on the quality of responses and the extent to which their design advances gender equality; monitoring their implementation and impact, including on different groups of women and girls; analysing subnational dynamics, such as the role of local governments and grassroots organisations; exploring how to strengthen state capacity to deliver on gender equality in crisis response; and investigating the enablers of and pathways to gender responsiveness.
• Harness digital technologies for gender equality during crisis response and recovery: COVID-19 has accelerated ongoing digital transformations, which hold potential for the empowerment of women and girls - as social protection beneficiaries, entrepreneurs, and activists. Digital tools have also been a significant enabler of collective action. Attention to the digital divide, which excludes the most marginalised and vulnerable, is advised.

In conclusion, this report presents an opportunity to champion gender-responsive social protections and to ensure meaningful participation of women to identify solutions to acute and chronic challenges.