Confronting Inequalities During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Soroptimist International has just released their report to the HLPF (High Level Political Forum). For those who are not familiar with the HLPF, it is the foremost international platform for follow-up and review of progress on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The publication is titled "Confronting Inequalities - Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals During the COVID-19 Pandemic".

Here is the summary of the Report:

After over a year of the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have watched their hard-won progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals go backwards. All women and girls have experienced the impacts of COVID-19 particularly acutely –– women frontline workers and those in the informal economy were among those hit first and hit hardest. Women were often the first to face unemployment often due to care responsibilities. As lock downs spread across the world opportunitiesfor women’s work has shrunk, more women areliving in poverty, rates of gender-based violence have increased, child marriage, teen pregnancy, as well as maternal and infant mortality rates have increased. Be it through paid and unpaid labour women and girls have to keep homes, communities and economies afloat while facing increased caring responsibilities at home.

Globally, we have witnessed a regression in gender equality and a return to a reliance upon gender stereotypes which harm individuals, families, communities, economies and countries. COVID-19 has revealed and entrenched the inequalities that exist in our world today. It will be impossible to overcome COVID-19 and achieve sustainable development without addressing these inequalities.

In this report, Soroptimist International will provide recommendations on how to expedite action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, by putting gender equality at the heart of all actions to progress sustainable development and combat COVID-19. The policy recommendations contained in this report will be presented alongside the projects carried out by Soroptimist International members in their own communities where they have the knowledge to best enact change. These Soroptimist grassroots projects build capacities within communities, promote women and girls as leaders and agents of change, and in the context of COVID-19 recovery, will ensure that we will have a more sustainable and equal world after the pandemic.

Please read the FULL REPORT HERE.