Women at The Heart of Recovery

Context: COVID recovery measures must ensure climate resilience through green stimulus and address long-standing gender equality issues.

Adverse Impacts of Covid-19 Pandemic on Vulnerable Groups

• Overburdened Healthline workers: are losing lives and livelihoods due to stressed health delivery systems.
• The Poor, Adivasis, Migrants, Informal workers and other vulnerable sections face hardships due to stressed agriculture, food insecurity, unplanned urban growth, thinning forest covers and water resources.
• Impact on women: 
• Rising rates of domestic violence and greater demands of unpaid care work.
• Declining female labour force participation rate (25.3%): as per India Voluntary National Review 2020 

Way Forward

• Aligning recovery with climate change goals: by investing in green jobs across agriculture, urban planning, energy and health sectors and in sustainable development.
• Women’s relationship with the environment and the informal economy: can be used to transform the lives and livelihoods of their communities.
• Equipping women with skills: by emulating the following examples.
• DISHA: (by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)+IKEA) 

• Provides skills and livelihood opportunities, energise local economies, reduce carbon emissions and enhances climate resilience.
• It also disrupts social norms and behaviours that restrict women’s participation in the workforce. 

• Self-Employed Women’s Association and the Electronics Sector’s Skills Council of India: by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) trains young rural women for the maintenance of solar pumps in remote locations.

• Provides clean energy options, reduce production costs and ensures sustainable livelihood.

• Open up opportunities for women:  through sustainable financial incentives and Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and recognising their potential.
• Women comprise more than 50% of the agricultural labour force and nearly 14% of all entrepreneurs.
• Equal participation of women in the workforce will increase India’s GDP by 27%. -  International Monetary Fund.

Conclusion: Putting women at the heart of Covid-19 recovery will make India’s GDP growth faster, just and inclusive.