Blog

Announcement: Working Group Coordinator for the Gender and Public Health Emergencies Working Group
We are excited to announce an opportunity to join the Gender and Public Health Emergencies Working Group (formally the Gender and COVID-19 Working Group) as a Working Group Coordinator. This role will support the ongoing success of the Working Group by planning meetings, building relationships with members, managing the list-serve, overseeing awards, and seeking additional […]

Germany’s COVID-19 response: On the gendered impact of invisibility in global crises
“Prevent, detect, contain and treat”: following the pillars of its pandemic preparedness and response framework, Germany’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has been praised for its low fatality rate. However, the conventional prioritization of immediate biomedical needs as the primary guiding principle in outbreak management arguably came at a cost for other systemic issues. Numerous groups paid […]

Ensuring Monkeypox Vaccine Access for Sex Workers
By Alice Murage The global monkeypox virus outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization in July 2022 when cases were reported in over 70 countries and territories. In Canada, and many similar countries, the government responded by initiating a vaccination campaign targeting those identifying as gay or […]

Using Intersectionality for Gender-Responsive Pandemic Measures
For many people across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic presented various challenges— movement was restricted, many businesses were shuttered, and learning was temporarily halted. The health systems in some regions, particularly those in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), were tested; understaffing, low budgets, and poor infrastructure were common features before being compelled to reroute, reorganise […]

Why are women more susceptible to long COVID?
Long COVID has negatively impacted over 100 million people worldwide with residual symptoms that could persist many months or potentially a lifetime after resolution of the acute infection. After a year of devastating losses from COVID-19 infection, the beginning of 2021 offered hope with vaccine distribution. However, with progression of the pandemic into 2022, discussions […]

Racism, rights and community engagement: Care, carers, caring in pandemic times
Shirin M Rai, Shahnaz Akhter and Jayanthi Lingham We have been working on issues related to care, caring and carers during COVID-19, as part of the CoPower: Consortium on Practices of Well-being and Resilience in BAME Families and Communities, funded by UKRI. Shirin Rai led the research team. Dr Shahnaz Akhter and Dr Jayanthi Lingham […]

Action is required
Gender and COVID-19 Working Group Call to Action was birthed in a collaborative process. Subsequently, organizers of the conference organized a webinar, ‘A Call to Action: Gender and COVID-19 Working Group’ to discuss it with a wider group of people. The speakers of the webinar focused on the actions needed to implement change in different […]
Food Insecurity, Hunger, Gender and COVID-19
Major disruptions to global economic, social and food systems have increased food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic and put at risk the health and wellbeing of millions of people around the world. The notable gender gap in food insecurity and hunger has widened during the pandemic – globally, and in every region worldwide, food insecurity prevalence is higher among […]
Re-emphasizing the gendered impacts of COVID-19: A round-up of evidence from seven countries
In the past two years, a vast amount of research and advocacy efforts have highlighted the gendered effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nabamallika Dehingia, Erin Oakley, Amanda P. Miller, Arjun Neupane, Anamika Priyadarshini , Anita Raj, Namratha Rao and Jennifer Wagman blog on behalf of EMERGE. EMERGE is an initiative focused on building the quality […]
What are we waiting for? GBV prevention must be part of the COVID-19 response
In this essay, Elizabeth Doggett and Myra Betron elaborate on health sector policy responses to the increased risk of gender-based violence (GBV) during the COVID-19 pandemic, measures that can mitigate the increased risk, and the additional need for primary prevention to tackle the root causes of GBV. With thanks to Sujata Tuladhar, Technical Advisor for […]
Webinar: Food insecurity, hunger, gender and COVID-19
The webinar will take place on May 10, 2022, from 8:00 am – 9:30 am EST. All welcome register here! Major disruptions to global economic, social, and food systems have increased food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic and put at risk the health and wellbeing of millions of people around the world. The notable gender […]
COVID-19 inspires women to leadership
Julia SmithAssistant Professor, Simon Fraser University The most surprising finding of my research with women teachers and school leaders, conducted for the ATA last year, was how many were determined to advance their careers and take on greater leadership opportunities, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. I led five focus groups and 10 semi-structured interviews with teachers […]
Nothing about us, without us – building the menstrual health of People Living with Disabilities in Nigeria into COVID-19 responses
This blog argues that the menstrual health of people living with disabilities (PWDs) in Nigeria should be factored into pandemic responses. The theme of the 2021 International Day of Persons with Disabilities was “towards an inclusive, accessible, and sustainable post COVID-19 world.” This theme comes at a crucial point in time, where the participation […]
Beyond COVID-19: A Feminist Plan for Sustainability and Social Justice
Anyone hoping for a more peaceful year in 2022 will be sorely disappointed. All eyes are focused on Ukraine, while conflict and instability continue in Afghanistan, Myanmar and Ethiopia, among others. The IPCCC has just issued its most stark assessment about irreversible climate change to date, and the COVID pandemic is far from over. Although […]
Want to systematically apply gender analysis? Use a gender analysis matrix
By Rosemary Morgan, PhD, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health A gender lens can and should be applied to all health research and intervention topics that involve people. This is because gender power relations affect everybody. Despite this, there has been a historic neglect of gender-based analysis in health. There is also the problem […]
How are educators faring? Pandemic experiences of teachers and school leaders in Alberta, Canada
Research, supported by the Alberta Teachers’ Association and led by Dr Julia Smith of the Gender and COVID-19 Project, centers experiences of 29 female teachers and school leaders. It reveals the adverse effects of the pandemic on the well-being of educators as they worked towards sustaining the education sector in a time of chaos and […]
How the COVID-19 pandemic has affected female entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector in South East Asia
Lynda Keeru reports back on the webinar, ‘Women’s experiences of food insecurity and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea’ which shed light on the plight of women in the agricultural sector during the pandemic. In the agricultural sector, women have experienced more discrimination and challenges due to COVID-19 […]
“Água é vida”: a luta de mulheres quilombolas pelo acesso à água em meio à pandemia da Covid-19 no Brasil
Polyana Valente & Brunah Schall O Vale do Jequitinhonha, está localizado na região nordeste de Minas Gerais e se divide em Baixo, Alto e Médio Jequitinhonha. Devido à negligência dos setores públicos e privados e as condições climáticas desfavoráveis, é conhecido de forma equivocada como Vale da Pobreza. Marcado pela vegetação de cerrado em transição […]
“Water is life”: the struggle of quilombola women for access to water in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil
Polyana Valente & Co-Author, Brunah Schall The Jequitinhonha Valley is located in the northeast region of Minas Gerais (Brazilian State) and is divided into Lower, Upper and Middle Jequitinhonha. Due to the neglect of the public and private sectors and the unfavorable weather conditions it is mistakenly known as Poverty Valley. The vegetation there is […]
The ‘shadow pandemic’ requires more than a shadow response
Lara Quarterman, Nicholas Metheny, Carmen Sant Fruchtman, and Vandana Sharma Thirty years on and the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence (GBV) is as important now as it was in its first year. Starting annually on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and running for sixteen days until […]
Why collaborative Gender and COVID-19 research agenda-setting is important
Lynda Keeru attended the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH) and the School of Public Health at the University of the Western Cape’s webinar on gender and COVID-19 research agenda-setting. She summarizes what was discussed in the webinar. The Hub is keen to develop a shared and prioritized research agenda and framework […]
Learning from Nigeria: How they responded to the gendered impacts of COVID-19
Women, men and gender minorities are differently impacted by COVID-19. In this blog Lynda Keeru explores measures to mitigate the gendered impacts of COVID-19 in pandemic responses in Nigeria. She draws on the recent webinar. ‘How has Nigeria responded to the gendered impacts of COVID-19’ which is based on findings of a report covering the […]
“Women’s Work” and Wellbeing: Experiences from the Frontlines of the COVID-19 Response
Dr. Julia Smith & Alice Murage discuss the experiences of female essential workers and how to better value women’s work and wellbeing. Date and time Thu, December 9, 2021 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM GMT ABOUT THE TALK Women in Canada and around the world have been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, as […]
Book launch event: História oral, mulheres e envelhecimento na pandemia
It is with great emotion that we invite everyone to the launch of this collective book that brings together two volumes and has the participation of 74 researchers from different regions of Brazil. Fruit of a partnership between Fiocruz Minas, LABHOI-UFF, Covid Humanidades Network and the Gênero & Covid-19 project. It is the result of the […]