Resources
This is a collection of resources from the Gender and Public Health Emergencies project and the Gender Working Group. You can search by year, country and type of resource. We hope you will enjoy reading this growing body of knowledge from around the world.
We have a wider collection of Gender and COVID-19 resources in this google document which is curated by Rosemary Morgan.
The COVID‐19 pandemic exposes underlying inequalities in our socio‐economic and health systems, such as gender‐based violence (GBV). In emergencies, particularly ones that involve quarantine, GBV often increases. Policymakers must utilize community expertise, technology and existing global guidelines to disrupt these trends in the early stages of the COVID‐19 epidemic. Gender norms and roles relegating women […]
Could COVID-19 help unravel gender norms? Anneliese Dodds was giving her first interview as the UK’s shadow chancellor on 6 April when her young daughter gate crashed the video call. The TV presenter resolutely responded, “She’s welcome any time on this programme.” This contrasts with the widely shared clip of political analyst Robert E Kelly, […]
Emerging evidence from China suggests that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is deadlier for infected men than women with a 2.8% fatality rate being reported in Chinese men versus 1.7% in women. Further, sex-disaggregated data for COVID-19 in several European countries show a similar number of cases between the sexes, but more severe outcomes in aged […]
This article contributes to discussions on the gender dimensions of disease outbreaks, and preparedness policies and responses, by providing a multi-level analysis of gender-related gaps, particularly illustrating how the failure to challenge gender assumptions and incorporate gender as a priority at the global level has national and local impacts. The implications of neglecting gender dynamics, […]
COVID-19 school closures pose significant operational and financial risks to frontline organizations delivering vital education services, including non-governmental organizations, school operators, and other service providers. In this survey, we ask these organizations about the challenges they are facing in light of COVID-19 closures, particularly for girls. The responses shed light on how COVID-19 is affecting […]
Around the world, cash transfer programs are being rolled out by governments to mitigate economic hardship brought on by the ongoing pandemic. In Pakistan, the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program was introduced in April and rolled out to four groups of beneficiaries, largely relying on mobile phone registrations and requiring a national ID to register. Due […]
A practical guide for program implementation and adaptation. Jhpiego developed operational guidance that synthesizes global recommendations, current best evidence and critical resources to help health care providers, managers and leaders to maintain essential health services, including for family planning, gender-based violence, and maternal health, during and after the pandemic, and ensure families receive the care […]
In this brief, we summarize findings from 17 studies so far linking COVID-19 and violence against women and girls, and discuss data limitations and outstanding questions. Peterman A, O’Donnell M, Palermo T. Center for Global Development Note: Covid-19 and Violence against Women and Children What Have We Learned So Far?; 2020
As social protection programs and systems adapt to mitigate against the COVID-19 crisis, gender considerations are likely to be overlooked in an urgent effort to save lives and provide critical economic support. Yet past research and learning indicates that small adaptations to make program design and implementation more gender-sensitive may result in overall and equality-related […]
Times of economic uncertainty, civil unrest, and disaster are linked to a myriad of risk factors for increased violence against women and children (VAW/C). Pandemics are no exception. In fact, the regional or global nature and associated fear and uncertainty associated with pandemics provide an enabling environment that may exacerbate or spark diverse forms of […]
The number of COVID-19 cases appears to be comparable between men and women, but the severity of disease and death is two times greater for men than for women. History, including the 1918 influenza pandemic, warned us that male biases in COVID-19 could occur. In this Viewpoint, we focus on biological explanations, with a forward […]
The Ebola outbreak in west Africa in 2014-16 exposed many flaws in the global response to infectious disease. In particular, it highlighted the gap between countries’ commitments for outbreak preparedness, detection, and response, as required under the International Health Regulations, and their actual ability to respond when needed. This is partly due to a lack […]
The 2015 to 2017 outbreak of Zika generated global attention on the risk of a spectrum of neurological disorders posed to women and their unborn children—including, but not limited to, microcephaly—that came to be known as congenital Zika syndrome (CZS). Images of women cradling babies born with CZS underscored the gendered nature of the epidemic. […]
While there is widespread recognition of global health failures when it comes to infectious disease outbreaks, there is little discussion on how policy-makers and global health organizations can learn to better prepare and respond. Serious games provide an underutilized tool to promote learning and innovation around global health crises. In order to explore the potential […]
Immunotherapies are often used for the treatment, remission, and possible cure of autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, and cancers. Empirical evidence illustrates that females and males differ in outcomes following the use of biologics for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, e.g., rheumatoid arthritis (RA), infectious diseases, e.g., influenza, and solid tumor cancers. Females tend to experience […]
Gender is often neglected in health systems, yet health systems are not gender neutral. Within health systems research, gender analysis seeks to understand how gender power relations create inequities in access to resources, the distribution of labour and roles, social norms and values, and decision-making. This paper synthesises findings from nine studies focusing on four […]
Brazil’s Zika virus crisis (2015–17), following hot on the heels of the Ebola outbreak (2014–15), dominated newsfeeds and high-level discussions amid governments, the UN system and beyond, with emerging fears relating to Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS), embodied by microcephaly. However, beyond the ensuing panic in Latin America facing a generation of Zika babies, the outbreak […]
The Zika outbreak provides pertinent case study for considering the impact of health emergencies on abortion decision-making and/or for positioning abortion in global health security debates. This paper provides a baseline of contemporary debates taking place in the intersection of two key health policy areas, and seeks to understand how health emergency preparedness frameworks and […]
Males/men and females/women differ in the outcome of influenza A virus (IAV) infections, vaccination, and antiviral treatments. Both sex (i.e. biological factors) and gender (i.e. sociocultural factors) can impact exposure and severity of IAV infections as well as responses and outcomes of treatments for IAV. Greater consideration of the combined effects of sex and gender […]
In this paper, a case is made for mainstreaming gender into global women’s health programming and policies. The potential implications of conflating “gender” with “women'” in the design and evaluation of women’s health programming are first considered. HIV/AIDS case studies are then used to depict examples of (a) where gender has been well integrated and […]
Resources
This is a collection of resources from the Gender and COVID-19 project and the Gender Working Group. You can search by year, country and type of resource. We hope you will enjoy reading this growing body of knowledge from around the world.
We have a wider collection of Gender and COVID-19 resources in this google document which is curated by Rosemary Morgan.
The COVID‐19 pandemic exposes underlying inequalities in our socio‐economic and health systems, such as gender‐based violence (GBV). In emergencies, particularly ones that involve quarantine, GBV often increases. Policymakers must utilize community expertise, technology and existing global guidelines to disrupt these trends in the early stages of the COVID‐19 epidemic. Gender norms and roles relegating women […]
Could COVID-19 help unravel gender norms? Anneliese Dodds was giving her first interview as the UK’s shadow chancellor on 6 April when her young daughter gate crashed the video call. The TV presenter resolutely responded, “She’s welcome any time on this programme.” This contrasts with the widely shared clip of political analyst Robert E Kelly, […]
Emerging evidence from China suggests that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is deadlier for infected men than women with a 2.8% fatality rate being reported in Chinese men versus 1.7% in women. Further, sex-disaggregated data for COVID-19 in several European countries show a similar number of cases between the sexes, but more severe outcomes in aged […]
This article contributes to discussions on the gender dimensions of disease outbreaks, and preparedness policies and responses, by providing a multi-level analysis of gender-related gaps, particularly illustrating how the failure to challenge gender assumptions and incorporate gender as a priority at the global level has national and local impacts. The implications of neglecting gender dynamics, […]
COVID-19 school closures pose significant operational and financial risks to frontline organizations delivering vital education services, including non-governmental organizations, school operators, and other service providers. In this survey, we ask these organizations about the challenges they are facing in light of COVID-19 closures, particularly for girls. The responses shed light on how COVID-19 is affecting […]
Around the world, cash transfer programs are being rolled out by governments to mitigate economic hardship brought on by the ongoing pandemic. In Pakistan, the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program was introduced in April and rolled out to four groups of beneficiaries, largely relying on mobile phone registrations and requiring a national ID to register. Due […]
A practical guide for program implementation and adaptation. Jhpiego developed operational guidance that synthesizes global recommendations, current best evidence and critical resources to help health care providers, managers and leaders to maintain essential health services, including for family planning, gender-based violence, and maternal health, during and after the pandemic, and ensure families receive the care […]
In this brief, we summarize findings from 17 studies so far linking COVID-19 and violence against women and girls, and discuss data limitations and outstanding questions. Peterman A, O’Donnell M, Palermo T. Center for Global Development Note: Covid-19 and Violence against Women and Children What Have We Learned So Far?; 2020
As social protection programs and systems adapt to mitigate against the COVID-19 crisis, gender considerations are likely to be overlooked in an urgent effort to save lives and provide critical economic support. Yet past research and learning indicates that small adaptations to make program design and implementation more gender-sensitive may result in overall and equality-related […]
Times of economic uncertainty, civil unrest, and disaster are linked to a myriad of risk factors for increased violence against women and children (VAW/C). Pandemics are no exception. In fact, the regional or global nature and associated fear and uncertainty associated with pandemics provide an enabling environment that may exacerbate or spark diverse forms of […]
The number of COVID-19 cases appears to be comparable between men and women, but the severity of disease and death is two times greater for men than for women. History, including the 1918 influenza pandemic, warned us that male biases in COVID-19 could occur. In this Viewpoint, we focus on biological explanations, with a forward […]
The Ebola outbreak in west Africa in 2014-16 exposed many flaws in the global response to infectious disease. In particular, it highlighted the gap between countries’ commitments for outbreak preparedness, detection, and response, as required under the International Health Regulations, and their actual ability to respond when needed. This is partly due to a lack […]
The 2015 to 2017 outbreak of Zika generated global attention on the risk of a spectrum of neurological disorders posed to women and their unborn children—including, but not limited to, microcephaly—that came to be known as congenital Zika syndrome (CZS). Images of women cradling babies born with CZS underscored the gendered nature of the epidemic. […]
While there is widespread recognition of global health failures when it comes to infectious disease outbreaks, there is little discussion on how policy-makers and global health organizations can learn to better prepare and respond. Serious games provide an underutilized tool to promote learning and innovation around global health crises. In order to explore the potential […]
Immunotherapies are often used for the treatment, remission, and possible cure of autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, and cancers. Empirical evidence illustrates that females and males differ in outcomes following the use of biologics for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, e.g., rheumatoid arthritis (RA), infectious diseases, e.g., influenza, and solid tumor cancers. Females tend to experience […]
Gender is often neglected in health systems, yet health systems are not gender neutral. Within health systems research, gender analysis seeks to understand how gender power relations create inequities in access to resources, the distribution of labour and roles, social norms and values, and decision-making. This paper synthesises findings from nine studies focusing on four […]
Brazil’s Zika virus crisis (2015–17), following hot on the heels of the Ebola outbreak (2014–15), dominated newsfeeds and high-level discussions amid governments, the UN system and beyond, with emerging fears relating to Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS), embodied by microcephaly. However, beyond the ensuing panic in Latin America facing a generation of Zika babies, the outbreak […]
The Zika outbreak provides pertinent case study for considering the impact of health emergencies on abortion decision-making and/or for positioning abortion in global health security debates. This paper provides a baseline of contemporary debates taking place in the intersection of two key health policy areas, and seeks to understand how health emergency preparedness frameworks and […]
Males/men and females/women differ in the outcome of influenza A virus (IAV) infections, vaccination, and antiviral treatments. Both sex (i.e. biological factors) and gender (i.e. sociocultural factors) can impact exposure and severity of IAV infections as well as responses and outcomes of treatments for IAV. Greater consideration of the combined effects of sex and gender […]
In this paper, a case is made for mainstreaming gender into global women’s health programming and policies. The potential implications of conflating “gender” with “women'” in the design and evaluation of women’s health programming are first considered. HIV/AIDS case studies are then used to depict examples of (a) where gender has been well integrated and […]