Today is International Women’s Day which is being celebrated under the theme #ChooseToChallenge. 2021 has been a challenging year for women in every sphere, particularly given the socio-economic disruption that came with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The Caribbean Development Bank warned that women are feeling the brunt of the economic dislocation given that more than 70 percent work on the frontline, as health and social care workers globally.
The data will inevitably impact on women’s ability to take care of themselves and family mentally and financially, including accessing healthcare when needed. And where the negative consequences affect them more given their caregiving role in the home they will face the brunt of the challenges. In this regard whilst they could #ChooseToChallenge overcoming some of their challenges need governmental support. Where the government continues to ignore this and fail to put corrective measures in place to cushion the effects of COVID-19 they are paying lip service to 2021 International Women’s Day.
Guyanese women need more than a message from President Irfaan Ali. Even as they appreciate his administration’s recognition that “women have unlimited potential” they remember how nurses were forced to protest to get a risk allowance and Personal Protective Equipment to do their work. Society knows frontline workers were doing yeoman service, putting their lives and families at risk to save the lives of others, but the government was acting unconcerned, uncaring. Women know apart from acknowledging their potential they need something tangible to show demonstration of acknowledgment. This President Ali is yet to do in significant ways to honour women’s potential.
The United Nations(UN) in its ‘April 2020 Policy Brief: The Impact of COVID-19 on Women’ noted, “the health of women generally is adversely impacted through the reallocation of resources and priorities, including sexual and reproductive health services.” Said report called for alleviating actions through “three cross-cutting priorities” namely:-1) ensuring women’s equal representation in all COVID-19 response planning and decision-making; 2) driving transformative change for equality by addressing the care economy, paid and unpaid; and 3) targeting women and girls in all efforts to address the socio-economic impact on COVID-19
The Government of Guyana fortunately had enough opportunities to do the above in the 2020 National Budget which was passed last September, five months after the UN Report; and the 2021 National Budget which was passed this month. It would be interesting to hear the government’s response whether recognition that “women have unlimited potential” has materialised in the three cross-cutting priorities to help women successfully navigate the adverse impact of COVID-19 on their socio-economic well-being. Government knows talks without corresponding actions do not make the lives of women better.
