The impacts of COVID-19 are not gender-neutral. Women and girls face even higher rates of violence and sexual abuse, undertake more unpaid domestic work, access fewer essential health services, and are more vulnerable to economic hardship.
Experience from past international crises such as the Ebola and Zika outbreaks, as well as previous disasters in the Pacific, have demonstrated the vital importance of incorporating a gender lens in planning, response, and rebuilding to ensure government interventions and humanitarian response are effective and promote gender equality.
