COVID 19 RGA

CARE Rapid Gender Analysis COVID-19 Pacific Region, 26 March 2020 [version 1]

Globally, including the Pacific, development and humanitarian settings pose particular challenges for infectious disease prevention and control. For the Pacific, COVID-19 presents a range of contextual challenges. These include multiple islands, vast distances and limited resources. In most Pacific Countries, access to quality health services is limited, due to a lack of infrastructure, equipment, and qualified personnel.

This preliminary Rapid Gender Analysis has the following objectives:
● To analyse and understand the different impacts that the COVID-19 potentially has on women, men,
girls and boys and other vulnerable groups in the Pacific context

● To inform humanitarian programming in the Pacific region based on the different needs of women,
men, boys and girls with a particular focus on Gender Based Violence (GBV), Health, Water,
sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Women’s Economic Empowerment. Read More...

Pacific COVID 19 RGA March 26 2020

Novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is having devastating impacts globally. As of 26th March, 414,179 confirmed cases and 18,440 deaths have been recorded across 178 countries. To date, the Pacific has confirmed cases in Guam, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Fiji, PNG, and suspected cases in Samoa. In most Pacific countries, access to quality health services including intensive care is limited. Food security and livelihoods are particularly vulnerable to shocks due to semi subsistence lifestyles and a high reliance on the informal sector for income.

A COVID-19 outbreak in the Pacific could disproportionately affect women and girls in a number of ways including adverse impacts to their education, food security and nutrition, health, livelihoods, and protection. Women are the primary care givers in the family and are key health care front line responders placing them at increased risk and exposure to infection. Maternal and sexual reproductive health needs continue in an emergency but risk being de-prioritized. COVID-19 risks increasing women’s workloads, caring for children as schools close and the sick. Additionally, there is a risk of increased family violence in a region where pre-existing rates of violence against women are already very high.

Men's gender roles and norms need to be taken into account in order to ensure that men are properly targeted to help reduce their vulnerability to illness and to leverage their roles as leaders and decision makers in the home and in the community to help prevent the spread of the disease. Read More...

Australia COVID19 RGA April 1 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic is not just a healthcare crisis but is having far-reaching impacts on the economy and the social fabric of countries. Australia is no different. While the proportion of COVID-19 cases in males and females is roughly equal, various groups are impacted differently. Women and people with disabilities and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who have poorer health outcomes are at a higher risk of infection. Barriers in accessing information and medical and other health services exacerbate this higher risk. Women make up almost 80 per cent of the health and social assistance industry, and this means more women than men will be on the frontline of the response to COVID-19, putting them at higher risk of exposure.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the Australian economy, with the Australian Government estimating one million people could be made unemployed. The impact on the economy is compounded by the destruction of local businesses and homes during the recent bushfire season. Four-fifths of employed Australians (80 per cent) work in industries providing services, such as health care, education, and retail. These sectors are the hardest hit by the economic impacts of COVID-19. Many part-time and casual workers, of which women comprise the majority, are most likely to be laid off or given shorter hours during the crisis and post-crisis. Unpaid caring labour falls more heavily on women because of the existing structure of the workforce and gendered social norms. Women are paid less and perceived to have more flexibility from doing casual or part-time jobs. As a result, women will be expected to undertake unpaid care work. Read More...

Global COVID 19 Rapid Gender Analysis April 1

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organisation classified COVID-19 as a pandemic.1 Disease outbreaks affect women, girls, men, boys, and persons of all genders differently, to say nothing of the wide variety of at-risk and marginalised groups. The compounding complexities of development and humanitarian contexts can have disproportionate effects on women and girls, as well as those at-risk and vulnerable groups. CARE International identified the need to highlight the gender and intersectional impacts of the COVID-19 crisis.
To achieve this, CARE first developed a policy brief to review lessons learned from previous public health emergencies. CARE then adapted its Rapid Gender Analysis toolkit to develop the Global Rapid Gender Analysis on COVID-19, conducted in consultation with the International Rescue Committee (IRC). This report is for humanitarians working in fragile contexts that are likely to be affected by the COVID-19 crisis. It is organised around broad themes and areas of focus of particular importance to those whose programming advances gender equality and reduces gender inequalities. It seeks to deepen the current gender analysis available by encompassing learning from global gender data available for the COVID-19 public health emergency. Read More...

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