Amid the COVID-19 global pandemic, understanding how the virus is having a differential impact on Women is crucial to sound policy decisions and resource allocation.

We are all weathering the storm of COVID-19 together. But the reality is, we are in different boats. Designing effective and equitable response and recovery plans needs rigorous application of a gender and diversity lens. On one end of the spectrum - in the front trenches of immediate health care delivery and senior’s care - women constitute a majority of those assuming heightened risk.  Women are also more severely impacted by the pandemic because of their disproportionate poverty levels, unequal access to services, more limited networks and heightened vulnerability to violence in isolation.

At the same time, COVID is illustrating the unique and highly effective role of women in power and decision-making positions including as Public Health Officers, Ministers of Health and Heads of State. These realities urge us to disaggregate data to ‘see’ things differently, design things differently – and lead differently.

Dr. Betsy McGregor