On COVID-19 & Its Effects on Gender Equality
I have a distant memory of watching the news at my parents’ home during the Christmas season of 2019 and mildly thinking that China was going through a flu season that would pass & be contained within the country. Within months, the disease had spread across continents, and when in March WHO announced COVID-19 as a pandemic, I don’t think we all fully understood the changes the world we knew would go through.
We watched as the countries shut down borders, closed businesses, and hospitals became overwhelmed with the COVID-19 infections & deaths. As Uganda went into total lockdown, prices of basic foods & needs skyrocketed and people grappled with how their livelihoods would adapt to the changes. With little to no revenue coming in, businesses started closing, laying off employees, and cutting costs in order to stay afloat.
Like a lot of people, I also found myself as part of the collateral damage as I was laid off early in May & although it came as no surprise, it was still a shock. In the weeks before & those that followed, friends & acquaintances shared being laid off or going to work and finding the offices closed with no explanation from employers. My local hairdresser passed by my home to say she was closing the salon for good; she wouldn’t be able to make rent and any money she had made was to cater to her family. My neighbor (who is a single parent) had to let her house-helper go as she had lost her job and had to use her savings to keep the home running. A friend who has a small pig farm shared that her customers had halted buying and with the increased cost of feeds, she was struggling financially to continue feeding her livestock. During our weekly conversations, my mother (a government teacher), told me she was worried about a number of colleagues (especially the women) who worked in private schools and no longer received salary (because schools are closed) were in no position to even pay for their basic needs. With only markets, pharmacies, and supermarkets/shops allowed to stay open, sectors like food, transport, hospitality & tourism, manufacturing struggled to stay afloat. While there were jobs that could be done remotely (especially in the formal sector), most could only be done physically and with the need for social distance to reduce the spread of the virus, it was difficult to do these jobs. The business impact of COVID 19 has been felt & will continue to do so for years to come.
Going through a pandemic collectively as a country and world have shown us humanity’s selfless spirit to work together BUT equally magnified the impact & gender inequalities that exist in our society. This article from The World Economic Forum explained that on a global scale women were vulnerable as they’re the primary caregivers at home, 70% of them work in health and social services, and hold weaker positions than men in the labor market & economically. What this basically means is that women have to take care of the home, be extra careful not to catch or pass on the virus working as essential workers and all the while be paid less or nothing for doing the same work as men. Essentially women got the short end of the stick.
Despite both genders suffering the adverse effects of the economic impact of COVID-19, I have personally observed based on the people in my community that the women are facing the brunt of it. It was (and still is) alarming to watch an increasing number of women-owned businesses shutting down or being suspended indefinitely. It was my curiosity on understanding the WHY that led down a rabbit hole of analyzing labor market statistics (which is quite fascinating btw)that UBOS collects from surveys & censuses and finding this piece from The Economic Policy Research Centre on Why Gender Matters in Uganda’s response to COVID-19, that showed more women (85.6%) than men (84.5%) are employed in the informal sector which has been the most affected during the lockdown. This means that while male-dominated industries like transport (cargo) and construction continued, on the other hand, the female-dominated industries like tourism & hospitality and agriculture are struggling. This is especially hard as women are more likely to be single parents and are sole providers of the households. Unfortunately because of this, women in the informal sector are more likely to continue working putting their health at risk without using/ access to PPE like masks or hand-washing and self-isolating.
Therefore, the question is, What changes do we have to take to ensure that the world that caters to all its citizens & works towards building a more equitable society? How can women become empowered economically, not just for this crisis but also for the next one? How can women be more included in conversations that will ensure that their contributions are valued and paid for and thus bring about gender equality?
