UN: Coronavirus Pushes 47 Million Women, Girls into Extreme Poverty
Izumi Nakamitsu, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngucka, Executive Director of UN Women, said Wednesday that Covid-19 pandemic is “a reminder, for all of us, but especially women, that traditional notion of security that fuel the weapons industry cannot protect us from dangers and challenges we routinely face.”
The two officials noted that “Before the pandemic, women were already over-represented in vulnerable economic sectors and bore the brunt of unpaid care and domestic work.”
“When COVID-19 hit, the women who make up 70 per cent of the global health care workforce found themselves on the frontlines of the response—even as countless other women lost their livelihoods and took on greater household burdens.”