"Unprecedented periods of crisis offer unprecedented opportunities for action" (Editorial - By Graça Machel, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Vera Songwe, Maria Ramos)

Graça Machel, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Vera Songwe, Maria Ramos

We have the opportunity to rethink and redefine our society to make it dynamic and equitable.

Johannesburg, South Africa, June 18, 2020 :

COVID-19 has exposed the existence of deep inequalities in our societies and highlighted the heavy burdens on women around the world. 

This is why resources in response to the crisis must be allocated as a priority to the immediate needs of managing the virus and, simultaneously, to the dismantling of the structural and systemic barriers which aggravate inequalities and the deprivation of rights. We have the opportunity to rethink and redefine our society to make it dynamic and equitable.

Graça Machel Founder of the Graça Machel Trust and the Foundation for Community Development 

We must place women and their leadership at the heart of the response. In Africa, the large-scale shocks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic hit both informal and formal economies. 

The World Bank estimates that sub-Saharan Africa will experience a significant economic decline of up to -5.1% this year. Women have been particularly affected by this slowdown.

ILO data on the impact of COVID-19 suggests that women's economic and productive activities will be disproportionately affected. In addition, they have less access to social safety nets and their capacity to absorb economic shocks is very weak.

Maria Ramos, Co-Chair of the United Nations Secretary General's Task Force on Digital Financing of the Sustainable Development Goals, and former CEO of Absa Group Limited.

The longer the economic impact of the crisis is felt, the greater the risk of forced and early marriage for girls, as will the number of child marriages and early pregnancies, as girls become an immediate source of income for families. All of society is affected by the crisis; therefore, one can only expect food production systems to be severely impacted, resulting in an acute exacerbation of food insecurity and almost doubling current levels of widespread famine.

COVID-19 disrupts supply chains and disrupts the global food economy. With supply limited due to border closures, production stoppages and export restrictions, demand is skyrocketing, driving up prices and affecting the poorest and most marginalized people around the world. Africa is no exception to this disastrous logic.

Women are key actors in the food chain and play an essential role in the continent's agricultural production: 50% of agricultural activity in Africa is provided by women, who produce around 60 to 70% of food in sub-Saharan Africa. Studies show that the cost of malnutrition has a huge impact on a country's economic growth.

Food deficiencies contribute to the intolerably high levels of maternal and child mortality and stunting - thus to a loss of human capital which will be lacking overall for the economic, social and political development of the continent.

Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa 

The crisis has revealed the fragility of African health systems, and women and children are the most vulnerable to the lack of attention and adequate specialized services - requisitioned to manage COVID-19 - resulting in a foreseeable increase in infant and maternal mortality. Following confinement, domestic violence increased by 25% in some countries. And during quarantine periods, victims are denied access to protective services. 

We are calling for strong action: All responses to the crisis must take into account the gendered impacts of COVID-19 and be informed by the voice of women: women and women's organizations must be at the heart of decision-making in response to the crisis and the development of health and socio-economic policies and plans.

A clear focus on the lives and futures of women and girls is essential to break the structural practices that marginalized them. A data collection and disaggregation system must be put in place to ensure that the impact of the crisis on women encourages the transformation of fragile and inequitable socio-economic and health systems into fully inclusive and equitable health systems. 

Government and development partners must implement gender-focused economic policies and build the capacity of women as engines of economic growth: women and girls must be given direct access to credit, loans, deferrals and exemptions from payment of taxes and social security contributions, as well as preferential supplies. Structural barriers to accessing finance, inheritance and land rights need to be removed. 

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, African Union Special Envoy for the mobilization of international economic support in the fight against COVID-19, former Minister of Finance of Nigeria 

An enabling environment for ICT infrastructure needs to be created and supported so that women in rural and urban areas can contribute to the digital economy and access online platforms to facilitate electronic commerce and health / education / social exchanges by Invest in women throughout local food chains to improve food security: resources to respond to the crisis must target women in small and medium-sized enterprises and rural women's associations to increase the productivity of formal and informal economies and eradicate hunger and malnutrition. 

Local food production must be boosted and the unworthiness of an Africa that must import its food must be tackled head on. If we want to build healthy societies, it is essential to invest in food security. Recognize and implement equal rights in the workplace: the principle "for equal work, equal pay" must be applied .Bridging gender-based educational gaps: an ICT infrastructure must be built for e-learning to bridge the inequality gap; teachers must be trained in virtual curricula so that all African children, especially girls, have access to quality education. 

Efforts are also needed to protect girls from child marriage and early pregnancy. Social safety nets and financial assistance to households must be deployed so that girls continue their education. Strengthen health systems, gradually institute universal health coverage (UHC) and set up mental health services, as as essential strategies for improving citizens' health systems and well-being. 

Overall strengthening criminal justice systems and increasing efforts to support and protect survivors: prevention and protection efforts must be considered essential services; all media must contribute voluntarily and actively to efforts to bring about a fundamental change of mentality according to which gender-based violence will be rejected and deemed socially unacceptable and intolerable. 

The COVID-19 crisis offers us an unprecedented opportunity to regenerate the African socio-economic landscape and move towards a just, equitable and lastingly prosperous continent. Let’s seize this opportunity for renewal and don’t let it be wasted!

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Editorial Signed by:

Graça Machel, Founder of the Graça Machel Trust and the Foundation for Community Development 

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, African Union Special Envoy for the mobilization of international economic support in the fight against COVID-19, former Minister of Finance of Nigeria 

Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa 

Maria Ramos, Co-Chair of the United Nations Secretary General's Task Force on Digital Financing of the Sustainable Development Goals, and former CEO of Absa Group Limited.