Overcoming COVID-19 will require tackling inequality
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This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum.
Author: Winnie Byanyima, Undersecretary-General of the United Nations; Executive Director, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
Given the need to fund treatment and vaccines, there is pressure to scale back funding for social provisions, but leaders must boldly finance a more equal world.
Gender inequality is not only wrong, it is dangerous and weakens us all by depressing economic potential and threatening progress against pandemics.
World leaders can finance an equal economic recovery from COVID-19 by issuing Special Drawing Rights, cancelling debt and increasing domestic revenues.
Report: Bahamas second for equal gender economic participation and opportunity
The Bahamas is ranked second in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021 for economic participation and opportunity between men and women.
The Global Gender Gap index benchmarks 156 countries, analyzing whether gender parities exist in an effort to call government and civic leaders to action to close such gaps over time.
There were four key categories of focus: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment.
Overall, The Bahamas ranked 58 out of 156 nations.
“The economies that, to date, have the smallest economic participation and opportunity gaps include Lao PDR (91.5 percent), The Bahamas (85.7 percent) Burundi (85.5 percent) Iceland (84.6 percent), Latvia (82.2 percent), Moldova (81.1 percent) and Sweden (81 percent),” the report notes.
Anti-patriarchy vaccine needed
April 7, 2021
Recently, I came across the story of Sara (Saartjie) Baartman. Her life and death provide a stark reminder of the power and outreach of the patriarchy, even today.
Born in South Africa, Sara was sold into slavery before being trafficked to Europe in the early 19th century. Once there, she became part of a freak show popular with British and French high society, which leered over her body shape. Even her death in Paris in 1815 at 26 years of age proved insufficient to end the humiliation. For the Musée de l’Homme (Museum of Man), in the French capital, publicly displayed Sara’s body parts until 1974.
April 7, 2021
You are here: Home / World Economic Forum / COVID-19 has been a setback for women. Gender-responsive policies can stem the losses
COVID-19 has been a setback for women. Gender-responsive policies can stem the losses
(Credit: Unsplash)
This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum.
Author: Ruma Bhargava, Project Lead, Fourth Industrial Revolution for Health, India, World Economic Forum, C4IR India & Dr Megha Bhargava, Deputy Commissioner Income Tax, Ministry of Finance, Government of India
COVID-19 pandemic has exposed socio-economic inequalities in health, income, education and mental wellbeing.
Women in countries like India, who are already socially disadvantaged, have suffered these negative impacts more than most.
Daily Times
April 6, 2021
The current pandemic of COVID 19 is still unfolding not only its own mutations but several other pandemics of inequalities too. Multi-level and multi-faceted challenges are integrated in the health systems of all countries. As a part of its commitment to the agenda 2030, achieving the Universal Health Coverage with its 16 indicators is a critical task for nearly all member countries of the UN. Pakistan in spite of many inherent constraints that also encompass its routinely underfunded health system has fortunately survived well through this global catastrophe of Coronavirus. Its health system, is or should be swiveled by leadership and governance for managing service delivery, human resources, technologies, finances etc. Most of the factors that critically influence our country’s health systems are outside the technical domain of health care systems. Too often there exists a large gap between actual needs and perceived needs not only of the target popula