The emerging reports paint a picture of increased violence, economic instability (particularly for informal workers) and lack of meaningful engagement in official responses to the pandemic. There are also worrying reports of state sanctioned human rights violations including killings, rape and arbitrary detentions.
Women’s rights organisations who have been on the frontline in protecting the rights of women and girls, continue to be at the forefront in responding to the gendered impact of the virus. Experts in their communities, many of them have had to quickly adapt new approaches to protect the lives and livelihoods of women and girls.
Womankind partners are reporting a higher demand for services while at the same time facing a lack of available flexible funding that would allow them to finance new or increased services. The situation is ever-evolving but below is a snapshot on how COVID-19 has impacted women in our focus countries and how Womankind partners are responding to the ever changing need in their communities.
Womankind are striving to support our partners in their response to COVD-19 and to be able to continue with existing projects adapting to the new environment. We’ve launched the COVID-19 Resilience Fund, donate to the special fund here.
