COVID-19, gender inequality and social exclusion SDDirect evidence on longer term issues

REPORT COVID-19, gender inequality and social exclusion: longer-term issues, implications and lessons to be learnt

SDDirect evidence to the IDC inquiry on COVID-19 in developing countries

Produced for: International Development Committee 8th May 2020

1 COVID-19, gender inequality and social exclusion SDDirect evidence on longer term issues

Contents

1 Introduction to SDDirect ...... 3 2 Executive summary...... 3 3 People with disabilities ...... 6 4 Violence against women and girls (VAWG) ...... 8 5 LGBTIQ+ people...... 10 6 Impacts on women’s economic empowerment...... 12 7 Impacts on civil society...... 14

2 COVID-19, gender inequality and social exclusion SDDirect evidence on longer term issues

1 Introduction to SDDirect

Social Development Direct (SDDirect) is a leading provider of social development assistance and research services. We are a technical firm that offers in-depth thematic expertise in conflict prevention and peace building, governance voice and accountability, girls’ education, women’s economic empowerment, health rights and violence against women and girls. We have a 20-year track record of providing high quality services that include technical advice and support, research, development assistance programme design, delivery and management, monitoring and evaluation. Our clients are leading international development agencies, iNGOs and Foundations.

We are a wholly owned subsidiary of Plan International UK, a leader in gender-based programming for children. 2 Executive summary

COVID-19 has been called the great leveller, a virus that does not discriminate. The evidence SDDirect presented in its previous submission as well as below, strongly refutes this argument. COVID-19 is already reinforcing existing inequalities amongst rich and poor, women and men, girls and boys, people with disabilities and those without, and those with diverse sexual and gender identities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The disproportionate impacts we are seeing during the COVID-19 pandemic are rooted in structural barriers, unequal power relations, patriarchal and social norms, negative attitudes, stigma and discrimination. Impacts and implications will be context specific and influenced by factors in the wider environment such as conflict and security, economic deprivation, and geographical location.

Given the UK’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly the Leave No One Behind agenda, and DFID’s Strategic Vision for Women and Girls, Disability Inclusive Development Strategy and standards, the UK is well-placed to play a key role in ensuring we mitigate any risks that the pandemic exacerbates inequalities, actively involve excluded groups, and harness opportunities to build back better.

In this IDC submission, we highlight several key areas where there are likely to be long-term issues, implications and lessons learned, including the impacts on people with disabilities (Section 3), violence against women and girls (Section 4), Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex and Queer (LGBTIQ+1) people (Section 5), women’s economic empowerment (Section 6) and on civil society (Section 7). This report is not a comprehensive analysis on gender inequality and social exclusion in COVID-19 but reflects the focus of our work so far.

Longer-term issues and implications include:

 The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have disproportionate, long-term effects on people with disabilities, exacerbating discrimination and pre-existing barriers to healthcare, livelihoods, social protection and education - undoing the progress made in recent years. For example, evidence from previous crises shows that unemployment of people with disabilities grew at a faster rate than for those without disabilities (Garrido-Cumbrera & Chacón-García, 2018). COVID-19 is also likely to lead to significant setbacks in education for children with disabilities, as was the case in the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone.

 Lessons from previous pandemics suggest that COVID-19 will exacerbate the gender norms and inequalities that perpetuate different forms of violence against women and girls, including domestic violence, trafficking, early child marriage, state-sanctioned violence, and sexual exploitation and abuse. There are also risks of increases in online sexual exploitation and abuse, revenge porn, and cyberstalking. Projections show that intimate partner violence is likely to increase by 20% during lockdown periods, with an estimated 15 million extra cases for every three

1 LGBTIQ+ is an acronym encompassing all minority sexual and gender identities.

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months of lockdown (UNFPA, 2020). The long-term implications of a two-year delay in the scale up of prevention efforts, due to resources being diverted to COVID-19, are likely to lead to almost 200 million fewer cases of violence being averted by 2030, a reduction of about one third in progress in ending gender-based violence (UNFPA, 2020).

 COVID-19 is likely to worsen some conflicts and may present new opportunities for peace in others, with the disease forcing cooperation across conflict lines. The space for women to engage in peace processes is further limited by lockdown restrictions. Activists report some innovations for online participation in peace negotiations which offer the prospect of greater access to women peacebuilders, however, with activism moving online, women peacebuilders have already reported online abuse and sexual harassment. There is a risk that COVID-19 lockdowns, extended restrictions and periods of social distancing will further exclude women from peace and result in the exclusion of women’s needs from peace agreements. Experience suggests that women’s exclusion during crisis results in their exclusion from post-conflict processes, including their exclusion from positions of power (Enloe, 2020).

 The crisis risks exacerbating pre-existing inequalities for LGBTIQ+ people, especially those already experienced intersecting inequalities and social exclusion. Longer-term issues include increased risks of economic marginalisation and loss of livelihoods, as many LGBTIQ+ people work in the informal sector, with less access to savings and support systems. LGBTIQ+ civil society organisations (CSOs) have expressed concerns about structural barriers blocking access to COVID-19 related health care as well as long-term impacts on mental health, exacerbated by social isolation, loss of livelihoods and increased exposure to domestic violence and abuse. There are growing fears that the economic crisis and closing civil society space will disrupt long-term progress towards equal rights and opportunities and the ability of already under-funded LGBTIQ+ groups to provide support and services to LGBTIQ+ communities (Vaughn et al. 2020; Edge Effect 2020).

 COVID-19 is likely to entrench economic inequalities and disproportionally affect women’s economic and productive lives unless action is taken. Women are over-represented in occupations that are being hardest hit by social distancing measures and largely work in the informal sector where they lack protection during periods of crises. Intersecting inequalities experienced by women and girls further aggravates these effects, for example, female migrant workers are adversely affected by unpredictable travel bans and movement restrictions. In the longer term, women’s incomes may take longer to recover due to the nature of their work in the informal sector, uneven care burdens, and possible increases in automation induced by COVID- 19. The disproportionate financial impact of the pandemic on women and girls could also make it more difficult for them to pay back debt and could drive financial exclusion (CARE, 2020).

 Government restrictions on movement and growing surveillance also pose a long-term threat for civil society’s ability to advocate on politically sensitive issues. There are growing fears that intrusive public surveillance, policing measures, and emergency state executive powers could be extended beyond the pandemic and abused for political gain. The global economic downturn is also likely to have long-term impacts on the public fundraising income of many civil society organisations. A survey of INGOs found that 86% are either considering or actively cutting back on services (Bond, 2020). Many local CSOs in LMICs (particularly women’s rights organisations, disabled people’s organisations and organisations representing sexual and gender minorities) face an existential threat, with almost half reported that they would have to close in the next three months without additional funding (LINC, 2020).

However, there are opportunities to build back better. For example, to:

 Challenge harmful gender norms and inequalities, for example around unpaid work, care and domestic violence. In Mexico, for example, the government is calling on men to share more household responsibilities.

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 Ensure women and people with disabilities are better able to participate in the labour force by removing barriers such as inflexible working hours, refusal to allow home working, and lack of home-based assistive technology.

 Design and implement more flexible and inclusive social protection systems and schemes, particularly to achieve better coverage, including of people with disabilities and those working in the informal sector. The pandemic also presents a considerable opportunity to develop more gender-responsive social safety nets to absorb the financial shocks and vulnerabilities associated with a global economic downturn, such as increased risks of violence against women and girls, early marriage and school dropout. To date, only 11% of COVID-19 social protection responses are gender-sensitive (Gentilini et al, 2020).

 Legislate more effectively to protect people with disabilities and LGBTIQ+ people from discrimination. COVID-19 has brought into sharp focus that people with disabilities and LGBTIQ+ people are facing increased discrimination, including in the health sector response to COVID-19, in the media as well as in other sectors.

 Implement green stimulus measures which would contribute to economic recovery, emissions targets and social inclusion, for example women’s labour force participation. The positive impact on emissions during the crisis has been widely broadcast in the media, including opportunities to address climate change in the recovery. Measures include investments in renewable energy, building climate-smart infrastructure including public transport, and investments in education and retraining to prepare people for new opportunities in a green economy and offset jobs lost due to the shift away from carbon-intensive industries. These measures would contribute not only to economic recovery and emission reduction targets, but also present opportunities for social inclusion (Allan et al, 2020). For example, whilst a recent study found women comprise a higher share of the renewable energy workforce (32%) compared oil and gas (22%), efforts are still needed to ensure these measures are inclusive and accessible to all (IRENA, 2019).

 Galvanise civic mobilisation for a more inclusive world. Across the globe, citizens and CSOs are mobilising quickly and repurposing their work around COVID-19 to support their communities, share vital information and fight disinformation. As documented in the Carnegie Endowment’s recent overview analysis, they are reaching out to government and business, exploring new forms of civic mobilisation (Brechenmacher, Carothers and Youngs, 2020). Human rights and environmental groups are using new creative methods to continue their activism. Many organisations representing women, people with disabilities, LGBTIQ+ people and other groups in the firing line of the pandemic are advocating successfully for a more inclusive response to the pandemic.

These opportunities will only be harnessed if:

 Recovery plans are grounded in gender, power and social analysis that takes a life-cycle and intersectional approach2. Analysis that takes into account the root causes and drivers of gender inequality and social exclusion, including that intersecting inequalities are likely to significantly influence individual experience, is crucial.

 Data is disaggregated in recovery initiatives, for example, with age, gender and disability disaggregated data (disaggregating based on sexual orientation is likely too dangerous in many contexts to advocate for). Data should be disaggregated based on disability status using the Washington Group Questions.

 Women, people with disabilities, LGBTIQ+ people and others who may be often excluded participate in the development of recovery plans, including as leaders and decision makers.

2 Intersectionality is a concept coined by Kimberley Crenshaw in 1989, examining links between gender and race in the United States, including in her paper “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color”

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This should be achieved through directly engaging individuals and communities as well as organisations that represent these groups.

 Donors and the international community provide flexible funding to civil society organisations, including women’s rights organisations, disabled people’s organisations and LGBTIQ+ organisations. Emergency measures may reduce civic space, including for women’s rights defenders to accompany and advocate for survivors, monitor incidence and responses to VAWG, or deliver VAWG services alongside formal mechanisms. There are fears that authoritarian rule and reduction of civic space may continue post-COVID-19, particularly in FCAS (Brown et al, 2020).

 Governments, donors, civil society organisations and the private sector ensure that response and recovery interventions are accessible and inclusive. Universal design is good design; it is not a special requirement for the benefit of only a minority of the population. Designing products, services, resources or buildings (for example public health information campaigns, food distribution stations and testing or quarantine centres) that are accessible, usable and convenient ensures that everyone benefits.

 Donors and the international community actively seek to learn lessons related to gender equality and social inclusion in the COVID-19 response and recovery. Lessons from previous epidemics, including Ebola in West Africa, are limited on the experience of people with disabilities, LGBTIQ+ people and others. Actively seeking to learn lessons about who is affected, how and why, and who benefits from response and recovery initiatives will make valuable contributions to the global discourse on inequality and ensure the world is better prepared for the next pandemic.

 COVID-19 response and recovery efforts should seek to safeguard against sexual exploitation, harassment and abuse. Lessons from previous epidemics suggest that safeguarding against sexual exploitation and abuse can be deprioritised, whilst the risks increase. Evidence suggests that women and girls are at higher risk, and emerging data suggests people with disabilities, sexual and gender minorities and boys may also be at greater risk.

3 People with disabilities

People with disabilities are disproportionately represented among those living in poverty. We know that people experiencing social disadvantage and marginalization are disproportionately impacted by ill-health and that the impacts of COVID-19 are likely to be worse for people in lower socio-economic groups. Pre-existing barriers to healthcare, livelihoods, social protection and education are likely to be exacerbated during this time, undoing the progress made in recent years. People with disabilities are not a homogeneous group. Disability interacts with other factors related to age, gender and sexuality, with contextual factors such as economic deprivation, conflict and instability, urban/rural location and others to influence these barriers and lead to differential impacts amongst people with disabilities.

3.1.1 Longer-Term Issues, Implications and Lessons Learnt  The economic impacts of the crisis are likely to be disproportionate and long-term for people with disabilities. The International Labour Organization estimates that 25 million jobs could be lost globally as a result of COVID-19 (ILO, 2020). People with disabilities are more likely to be unemployed, work in the informal economy or be self-employed and have less access to labour protections (IDA, 2020; Nebehay and Mutikani, 2020; UNDESA, 2019). Evidence from previous economic crises shows that unemployment of people with disabilities grew at a faster rate than for those without disabilities (Garrido-Cumbrera & Chacón-García, 2018).

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 Evidence shows that before the crisis, people with disabilities often do not have access to social protection schemes. However, the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to positive changes in the way social protection is conceptualised and implemented, including for people with disabilities. Where people with disabilities do have access to schemes these are often inadequate and pressure on schemes may intensify exclusion (Henriques-Gomes, 2020b; Allam, 2020; Kidd et al., 2019; Al-Issa, 2020). Many countries have introduced increased support and flexible processes around social protection which may benefit people with disabilities, for example Brazil has ensured that assessments can be done remotely (Meaney-Davis et al., 2020). However, the extent to which people with disabilities have been able to access social protection schemes since the crisis started is unclear.

 COVID-19 is likely to lead to significant setbacks in education for children with disabilities. Learning from Ebola in Sierra Leone suggests that significant efforts will be needed to persuade parents and caregivers to send their children with disabilities back to school after the crisis (Meaney-Davis et al., 2020). The effects of school closures may be particularly acute for girls with disabilities; during Ebola there was an increase in sexual exploitation and abuse of girls resulting with many girls, including girls with disabilities, unable to return to school when they became pregnant due to a ban on pregnant girls attending schools (Meaney-Davis & Wapling, 2020).

 COVID-19 has already and is likely to continue to see rising stigma and discrimination of people with disabilities. This stigma and discrimination operates at different levels, including in legislation and policy, in the media and at local level. Public messaging around COVID-19 has often devalued people with disabilities and new guidelines and legislation has deprioritised them in access to life-saving medical care, as well as removing social care support (Meaney-Davis et al., 2020).

Despite the likely significant negative long-term implications of COVID-19 for people with disabilities, there are opportunities to build back better. For example:

 Employers may be more inclined to allow staff, including people with disabilities, to work flexibly and from home, removing some of the key barriers to people with disabilities’ participation in the labour market.

 The critical importance of digital communications, for businesses to continue to operate and communities to connect online socially, may provide an opportunity to ensure these are accessible in order to reach people with disabilities.3

 Social protection systems and schemes are, in some cases, opening up to become more flexible and inclusive. This may offer a window of opportunity to create more inclusive and sustainable systems and schemes for the future.

 Recognising increased discrimination that people with disabilities are facing, including in the health sector response to COVID-19 as well as in other sectors, may present an opportunity to legislate more effectively to protect people with disabilities.

Recommendations for a disability-inclusive COVID-19 recovery:

There is a danger that, unless data is disaggregated and people with disabilities and their representative organisations (DPOs) involved in the recovery from COVID-19, including to learn lessons, exacerbated inequalities will continue, grow worse and take many years to recover from. We will also fail to prepare ourselves adequately for the next global pandemic. Below are a set of recommendations for recovery efforts from a disability-inclusive perspective:

 Ground recovery plans in strong social analysis, including barrier analysis to identify the environmental, attitudinal and institutional barriers people with disabilities face. Consider how

3 https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/covid-19-isolation-disabilities/

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barriers for people with disabilities may differ depending upon other intersecting factors, including age, gender, migration status, ethnicity and socio-economic status.

 Meaningfully involve people with disabilities and/ or their representative organisations4 including in recovery plans. Consult and ensure key decision makers include people with disabilities (ensuring representation of different impairment types and women) in countries and communities. Partner with Disabled People’s Organisations and disability-focused organisations who already have links with and insights from people with disabilities.

 Build in accessibility and/or reasonable accommodation from the outset: Design each product, service, resource or building to meet the needs of all people that might use it. Universal design is good design; it is not a special requirement for the benefit of only a minority of the population. Designing products, services, resources or buildings (for example public health information campaigns, food distribution stations and testing or quarantine centres) that are accessible, usable and convenient ensures that everyone benefits.

 Collect and monitor disability disaggregated data: Disaggregate data by disability status (using the Washington Group questions) to tailor recovery plans based upon a strong understanding of the primary and secondary impacts on people with disabilities.

4 Violence against women and girls (VAWG)

Many countries around the world have reported an increase in cases of domestic violence, as evidenced by increasing demand for emergency VAWG hotline and shelter services (UN Women, 2020). Previous pandemics and humanitarian emergencies have also shown how COVID-19 is likely to exacerbate other forms of violence, including trafficking, early child marriage, state- sanctioned violence, and sexual exploitation and abuse (UN Women, 2020). Where women and girls have access to technology, there are also risks of increases in online sexual exploitation and abuse, revenge porn, cyberstalking, and abuse during online events and teaching (Fraser, 2020).

COVID-19 is having a disproportionate economic impact on women and girls, which risks enhancing their longer-term vulnerability to multiple forms of violence (Care International, 2020). When women and girls find themselves without an income and are unable to afford basic necessities (e.g. food, toiletries, clothing and accommodation), this makes them more vulnerable to sexual exploitation and abuse by those in positions of power (such as aid workers) and makes it harder for them to leave abusive relationships.

Where state capacity is overwhelmed or where COVID-19 is instrumentalised, increased state instability presents longer term risks of VAWG, including of conflict-related sexual violence and further reductions in state capacity to respond to VAWG in the longer term (O’Rourke, 2020; Csordas, 2020).

4.1.1 Longer-Term Issues, Implications and Lessons Learnt Lessons learnt from the 2014-2016 Ebola crisis in West Africa and emerging evidence on COVID-19 can be used by the UK Government to inform its discussions with national governments and development and humanitarian partners to ‘build back better’ and improve VAWG risk mitigation, prevention and response.

 The COVID-19 recovery period presents a unique opportunity to re-evaluate and challenge the harmful gender inequalities and norms that perpetuate VAWG in order to create a more gender equitable society. Social distancing measures have exposed and reinforced inequitable gender norms around movement restrictions, housework, childcare and decision-making, but there

4 Representative organisations include Disabled People’s Organisations and disability focused organisations.

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are also opportunities to ‘do things differently’. In Mexico, for example, the government is calling on men to share more household responsibilities (Align, 2020; Murray, 2020).

 The recovery period offers opportunities to design more inclusive and innovative prevention approaches, drawing on the well-documented evidence on effective prevention programming from DFID’s flagship 5-year research programme ‘What Works to Prevent Violence against Women and Girls’ (Kerr-Wilson et al, 2020).

 The pandemic also presents a considerable opportunity to develop more gender- responsive social safety nets to absorb the financial shocks and vulnerabilities associated with a global economic downturn, such as increased risks of violence against women and girls, early marriage and school dropout. To date, only 11% of COVID-19 social protection responses are gender-sensitive (Gentilini et al, 2020). See UNICEF’s checklist5 for some key considerations.

 Previous pandemics have shown the importance of improving access to justice to tackle likely increases in violence and difficulties accessing judicial services during lockdown. In Sierra Leone, DFID worked with UNDP and the Government to (re)build the capacity of Family Support Units and GBV Saturday Courts to help deal with the backlog of cases from the Ebola crisis (UNDP, 2016). The legitimacy of security and justice actors is crucial to COVID-19 response, as they maintain law and order whilst ensuring essential goods distribution and implementing unpopular measures such as lockdowns, quarantines, separation of patients and prisoners, or contact tracing. This requires trust-building, engagement with a wider range of non-state actors, community-based approaches and cooperation with civil society, including women’s rights organisations. This offers the prospect of a lasting shift towards collaborative and accountable security and justice systems centred on people’s needs, including response to VAWG (Trenkov- Wermuth, 2020).

 Recovery plans should also aim to integrate VAWG prevention and response into health systems, including providing high-quality, survivor-centred sexual and reproductive health services and psychosocial support for survivors as well as long-term psychosocial support to frontline healthcare workers who may have experienced abuse (Perman et al, 2020).

 VAWG takes place in each and every emergency and VAWG risk mitigation, prevention and response should be designated as essential and lifesaving by national governments and humanitarian partners and included and budgeted for in humanitarian preparedness, response and recovery plans. The UK government should advocate with national governments for decisions about plans and the allocation of resources to involve the national women’s sector and be gender responsive, as women-led organisations and women civil society leaders are best placed to understand response to the needs of vulnerable women and girls during and after crises.

 The UK government should provide additional flexible funding to women-led organisations, including through the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women which is establishing a COVID-19 Funding Window to help smaller WROs adjust to challenges. Emergency measures may reduce civic space, including for women’s rights defenders to accompany and advocate for survivors, monitor incidence and responses to VAWG, or deliver VAWG services alongside formal mechanisms. There are fears that authoritarian rule and reduction of civic space may continue post-COVID-19, particularly in FCAS (Brown et al, 2020)

 The UK government should continue to prioritise safeguarding and protection from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH) in its programming, including identifying how the pandemic is changing risks and reassessing whether existing reporting mechanisms, investigation practices and referral pathways for survivors are appropriate and function in the new operating context. Sectors that are scaling up as part of the response such as health, humanitarian, social protection, education and infrastructure need to be especially vigilant to the risk of SEAH increasing and proactive in ensuring that it is a central component of the coordinated response.

5 https://www.unicef.org/media/68081/file/Gender-responsive-social-protection-during-covid-19-2020.pdf

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Box 1: Women’s rights organisation in Malawi share their experiences of COVID-19 and its impact on VAWG

SDDirect partners with Coffey International Development and Plan International to deliver the DFID-funded VAWG prevention and response programme (Tithetse Nkhanza! – “Let's End Violence” in Chichewa) in Malawi. The programme team spoke to women’s rights organisations (WROs) who are programme partners to gather information on what they are seeing in relation to COVID-19 and VAWG. Though a state of emergency has been called, Malawi is not yet in lockdown. Data and evidence from other LMICs, including India and Kenya, suggest that lockdown may see spikes in reports of violence against women and girls. The WROs highlighted the following issues:

 Malawi has a very limited number of shelters for survivors of VAWG. Shelters are often informal and temporary and under-resourced.  Despite assurance that urgent cases will still be attended to by the judiciary during the crisis, WROs are reporting that in some districts judges are not issuing protection orders and are sending women back to live with violent partners.  The court system has slowed down due to social distancing measures and is only processing urgent cases, including discouraging some survivors from pursuing their cases, suggesting there is likely to be a backlog as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. These delays have resulted in perpetrators being released as cases are not processed within 48 hours.  Police are reportedly not attending to VAWG cases citing a lack of personal protective equipment.  Reporting of VAWG cases is being hindered, for example WROs and Community Victim Support Units are reluctant to travel on public transport to visit survivors, particularly in remote areas.  Access to sexual and reproductive healthcare may be limited due to reduced NGO outreach capacity and restrictions on public transport, however services currently remain open.  Examples of good practice from Malawi include the government publicising the toll-free VAWG helpline, and NGOs and national human rights institutions working with community structures to ensure prevention and response to VAWG continues amidst COVID-19 restrictions. This is being achieved through supporting WROs/CVSUs with resources to support their operations safely such as provision of PPE, sanitization materials. In addition, NGOs and NHRIs have been providing technical leadership in various areas, platforms and processes to prevent and respond to VAWG.

In response, the Tithetse Nkhanza! programme has:

 Providing technical support to the GBV sub-cluster of the protection cluster at national level.  Joined a taskforce of lawyers to develop practice directions for the Chief Justice to adopt which will clarify that urgent VAWG applications- including protection orders- fall within the ambit of urgent cases.  Increased funding to the Survivors’ Support Fund (SSF) to ensure that survivors get the support they need through lengthy court proceedings.

5 LGBTIQ+ people

While evidence of the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on LGBTIQ+ communities in LMICs remain scarce, emerging reports from LGBTIQ+ civil society organisations (CSOs) and human rights organisations shed light on how the crisis risks exacerbating pre-existing inequalities as well as give rise to specific marginalisation of LGBTIQ+ people in the COVID-19 context, especially for those who already experienced intersecting inequalities and social exclusion. This risks having long term health, economic and social impacts.

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Risk of exacerbated health inequalities: Discrimination in healthcare settings limited LGBTIQ+ people’s access to health services prior to COVID-19 (Social Development Direct, 2017a). These structural barriers risk blocking LGBTIQ+ people from accessing COVID-19 related care, and access to regular medical treatments, including HIV testing and treatment and gender-affirming care, risk being disrupted given the immense pressures on health care systems under the current crisis (Edge Effect, 2020; OHCHR, 2020). LGBTIQ+ CSOs have expressed serious concern that the COVID-19 crisis will have long term impact on LGBTIQ+ people’s mental health (Edge Effect, 2020). Social isolation, loss of livelihoods, and exposure to domestic violence and abuse are some factors that risk exacerbating already high levels of mental health conditions among LGBTIQ+ people globally (LBTI Caucus, 2020).

Risk of increased economic marginalisation: LGBTIQ+ CSOs in LMICs have reported that LGBTIQ+ people have lost their livelihoods following lockdown measures and are struggling to access COVID-19 relief services (e.g. because of discriminatory attitudes by providers and lack of ID cards) (Edge Effect, 2020). LGBTIQ+ people in LMICs were already more likely to work in the informal sector and be under- or unemployed, leading to high levels of poverty and homelessness prior to the crisis (OHCHR, 2020; Social Development Direct, 2017b). In addition, CSOs highlight that LGBTIQ+ people are less likely to have savings or be able to rely on traditional support systems such as family and kin (Edge Effect, 2020). Pre-existing economic marginalisation and exclusion from emergency services and aid distribution provided by governments and organisations risks leaving LGBTIQ+ people further ‘behind’ economically and hamper recovery from the economic impact of the crisis (Edge Effect 2020).

Risk of economic impact on LGBTIQ+ CSOs: LGBTIQ+ CSOs have an essential role to play in the COVID-19 response and in providing long term support and services to LGBTIQ+ communities. However, LGBTIQ+ CSOs fear that the global economic impact of COVID-19 will put LGBTIQ+ CSOs under financial pressures, especially in the Global South and East where organisations were already underfunded (Vaughn et al. 2020; Edge Effect 2020). Reduced economic support could result in LGBTIQ+ CSOs having to withdraw or put services on hold, presenting significant risks to the safety, health and wellbeing of LGBTIQ+ people. Disruption of LGBTIQ+ CSOs existing and planned work risk slowing down long-term progress towards equal rights and opportunities for people of all genders and diverse sexual orientations.

Risk of exacerbated social exclusion and deteriorating situation for LGBTIQ+ people: Reports from several countries witness of LGBTIQ+ people being ‘blamed’ for causing and/ or spreading COVID-19 (Edge Effect, 2020). This risk reinforcing existing prejudices and fuel negative attitudes towards LGBTIQ+ people. In some countries (e.g. Uganda and the Philippines), LGBTIQ+ people have been targeted by authorities that have used COVID-19 restrictions to humiliate and arrest LGBTIQ+ people (Goshal, 2020; Thoreson, 2020). This indicates that the COVID-19 crisis risk leading to a deteriorating situation for LGBTIQ+ people in countries that were already hostile for sexual and gender minorities.

Previous crisis responses have showed that LGBTIQ+ people are at high risk of being excluded as governments and organisations repeatedly fail to reach LGBTIQ+ people and engage LGBTIQ+ CSOs in the response (see e.g. Knight, 2016). Lessons learned from previous emergencies stress the importance of LGBTIQ+ voice and participation in design and implementation of interventions, and highlights the need for LGBTIQ+ awareness and inclusive practices among frontline workers in emergencies (ADPC, OCHA and UN Women, 2017).

The COVID-19 crisis presents an opportunity for governments, donors and organisations to model an intersectional and inclusive approach within the response and long-term recovery that includes recognition, inclusion and accountability towards LGBTIQ+ people. Key messages from LGBTIQ+ and human rights organisations include:

 Ensure that the design, implementation, and assessments of COVID-19 response and recovery efforts addresses the rights, needs, priorities and strengths of diverse LGBTIQ+ groups (Edge Effect, 2020).

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 Ensure that health care services, aid distribution and other response services are safe to access for LGBTIQ+ people without risk of facing discrimination, harassment, violence or risk of retribution (OHCHR, 2020).

 Support diverse LGBTIQ+ CBOs that undertake community-based response in the crisis phase, and their longer-term work to support LGBTIQ+ communities to recover from the negative implications that are likely to affect LGBTIQ+ people.

 Continue to support LGBTIQ+ CSOs to economically survive through the crisis, and be able to continue their lifesaving work with LGBTIQ+ communities post COVID-19.

 Monitor and evaluate the implementation and impact of response programmes and interventions (in the short and long term) to provide evidence of who they reach and benefit, and to generate learnings of how responses to epidemics and economic crisis can effectively include people of diverse SOGIEs and their representative CSOs (Edge Effect, 2020).

6 Impacts on women’s economic empowerment

If women participated in the economy as much as men, their activity could add an additional $28 trillion—26 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP)6. However, as COVID-19 causes economic activity to grind to a halt, the experience of previous health crises and emerging data suggests that women’s economic and productive lives will be affected disproportionately and differently from men, resulting in a prolonged decline in women’s incomes and labour force participation. This will entrench economic inequalities in the long term and threaten decades of progress on women’s economic empowerment unless action is taken. Intersecting inequalities experienced by women and girls – due to age, disability, ethnicity, immigration status, race, sexual orientation, and other factors—further aggravates these effects.

Women are over-represented in occupations that are being hardest hit by COVID-19, such as leisure, travel, hospitality, textile and apparel manufacturing and retail sales, with barriers to re-entry leading to reinforcement of economic inequalities. For example, the majority of workers in the garment sector in countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Cambodia are women.7 Already, millions of garments workers, mostly women, have been sent home without further pay due to COVID-19 (Paz et al, 2020). Unlike in previous recessions, social distancing measures as a result of COVID-19 have a large impact on female-dominated sectors with a resultant high share of job losses for women (Alon et al, 2020). A sizeable literature documents that earnings losses from job losses are highly persistent and much more severe when they occur in recessions (See Stevens, 1997; Davis and von Wachter, 2011; and Jarosch, 2015; in Alon et al, 2020).

70 per cent of women’s employment in developing economies is in the informal sector8, which often leaves them out of formal social protection measures including dismissal, sick pay or income support. Jobs such as food vendors may adjust to greater mobility demands (as individuals travel house-to-house during a lockdown), thereby shifting the sector towards being more male- dominated. (Paz et al, 2020). Movement restrictions may also impact women who work in the gig economy, as they are unable to go out to work (CARE-IRC, 2020).

6 McKinsey Global Institute, “The Power of Global Gender Parity Report,” 2015, https://mck.co/2SBsTVz 7 Bangladesh - See Farole et al, 2020. Myanmar - https://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/un-strengthens-efforts-reduce-socio-economic-impact-covid-19-enmy Cambodia - https://www.care.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/SHCS_Brief-Women-Cambodia-Garment-Industry-March- 2017_CA.pdf 8 Globally, informal employment is a greater source of employment for men (63.0 per cent) than for women (58.1 per cent), but in low and lower-middle income countries, a higher proportion of women are in informal employment than men. (https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_626831.pdf, pages 20-21)

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Female overseas domestic and migrant workers are being adversely affected by COVID-19. Unpredictable travel bans and movement restrictions as a result of the pandemic are inhibiting migrant workers ability to access employment, many of whom travel in southeast Asia between the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. (Wenham et al, 2020; GIHA, 2020). Remittances to low- and middle-income countries will fall by nearly 20%, with devastating consequences for those who rely on this financing for survival (World Bank, 2020).

Past health crises have shown that women’s incomes take longer to recover in the long term due to the nature of their work. For example, during the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, most self- employed women were engaged in the sale of perishable goods such as fruits and vegetables, which went to waste because of customers fears that they would contract Ebola, whereas men’s businesses, mostly dealing in non-perishable goods, recouped faster. (Gupta, 2020; Paz et al, 2020; UN, 2020) COVID-19 will worsen the persistent gender wage gap as women and girls - concentrated in lower-paid jobs - sacrifice their positions to care for others, and as informal and/or lower paid positions become more scarce with higher competition. (CARE, 2020a). Women and girls who lose their livelihoods as a result of the pandemic may increasingly seek positions in higher-risk sectors, putting them at increased risk of violence and abuse, a trend observed during the 2014–16 West Africa and 2018–2020 Democratic Republic of the Congo Ebola outbreaks. (ibid).

A significant increase in multiple care responsibilities could lead to the permanent exit from the labour market for many women. Women already do three-times as much unpaid care work than men9. The demand for care work is rapidly increasing with children out-of-school and heightened care needs of older persons and overwhelmed health services as a result of the pandemic. As observed in similar crises, women will likely be the ones taking on most of these additional care responsibilities. In the absence of any alternative support mechanisms and the economic disruption brought about by COVID-19, households may be confronted with the need to prioritise the highest-paid job in the household - most often corresponding to men (Lewis, 2020; Paz et al, 2020).

The COVID-19 pandemic could, conversely, accelerate social norm change which may promote gender equality in the labour market through persisting reallocation of care duties within households as men take up a greater share of childcare, and through employers adopting flexible working arrangements which recognise women’s care responsibilities (Alon et al, 2020).

The disproportionate impact of the financial consequences of the pandemic on women and girls will make it more difficult for them to pay back debt and could drive financial exclusion. Coupled with the informality of many women’s and girls’ businesses, they are likely to be perceived as “high risk” and be prevented from accessing finance in future. (CARE, 2020a)

Evidence from past epidemics shows that adolescent girls are at particular risk of not returning to school even after the crisis is over, with lasting consequences for their economic and health prospects. School closures can increase teenage pregnancy and prevalence of child labour (UNICEF, 2020). The economic instability caused by COVID-19 could further increase the risk of child, early, and forced marriage for adolescent girls.10 Households may also decide to take their children out of school due to economic hardship. In these cases girls are often withdrawn from schooling before boys (CARE, 2020b).

Women may be the hardest hit by an acceleration in automation induced by COVID-19. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, automation was expected to disproportionately impact women’s employment (Amerasinghe, 2016). As a result of COVID19, companies are preparing to invest in automation for a post-crisis world (Guardian, 2020; Corkery & Gelles, 2020), which could lead to disproportionate risk to livelihoods for women if not planned for. Jobs in restaurants, retail, and recreation (which each have a high share of female employment and are currently being impacted by the pandemic) were already expected to be heavily automated in the near future (Frey and Osborne, 2016).

9 https://www.ilo.org/asia/media-centre/news/WCMS_633284/lang--en/index.htm 10 Inter-Agency Steering Committee, “Guidelines for Integrating Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Action: Reducing Risk, Promoting Resilience, and Aiding Recovery,” 2015, https://gbvguidelines.org/wp/wp- content/uploads/2015/09/2015-IASC-Gender-based-Violence-Guidelines_lo-res.pdf

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In lower-income countries, women are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of food scarcity as a result of a public health emergency. Poor households and those living in slums, camps or similarly vulnerable situations will be particularly vulnerable to the pandemic and its economic impacts (Paz et al, 2020). In some contexts, and due to food insecurity, girls and women would decrease their caloric intake in favour of men and boys11.

Other epidemics have shown that people with disabilities experience disproportionate economic impacts and a failure to provide inclusive social protection. This results in worsening deprivation, including food insecurity, for people with disabilities. (Meaney-Davies et al, 2020)

Emerging evidence of increased gender-based violence as a result of the pandemic is impeding women’s participation in economic activities. This “shadow pandemic” affects women and girls at work and in their homes, with reports of increased workplace violence, harassment and exploitation faced by women as a result of COVID-19 (Fraser, 2020; CARE, 2020b; UNICEF 2020).

The longer-term economic recovery packages that governments will be introducing in the coming months will influence whether internationally agreed targets on climate change will be met. Economic recovery packages can set the course for a just transition to a green economy, to build back better and more resilient economies. To mitigate disproportionate impacts faced by marginalised groups in relation to COVID 19 and the climate crisis, there is a need to ensure these efforts are gender and disability-inclusive. Despite an initial dip during the 2008 financial crisis, emissions rebounded quickly following an increase in the fossil fuel intensity of world economy as environmental protections were deprioritised (Bär and Runkel, 2020; Peters et al, 2011). Given the urgency of the climate crisis, and the threat that climate change poses to the most vulnerable groups, there is greater impetus to take this opportunity to invest in a sustainable future economy.

7 Impacts on civil society

Civil society plays a fundamental role in social, political and economic development. In times of crisis, civil society is uniquely well-placed to convene civic dialogue with government and other sectors and to amplify the voices of citizens – especially the voices of marginalised people – in both policy and crisis response. Civil society organisations (CSOs), big and small, are indispensable delivery partners in emergencies and crisis response. Larger NGOs and civil society coalitions can mobilise quickly at scale to provide direct, life-saving assistance. Social movements and smaller, community-based organisations (CBOs) can partner with others to support hard-to-reach communities. CSOs are a critical channel for dissemination of accurate, accessible information and communications, particularly to remotely located and marginalised people. They can keep government and the private sector informed on the specific crisis impacts and needs of marginalised and vulnerable groups – and they can mobilise citizen participation in the making and monitoring of more effective public policy solutions. Perhaps most importantly, civil society can hold governments and the private sector to account, coordinate the emergency efforts of CSOs, and collect vital community-based evidence needed to improve current and future responses to crises.

Prior to the advent of COVID-19, civil society space in many parts of the world was shrinking. Many governments had already introduced laws and policies that restrict people’s freedom of association, their right to peaceful assembly, and their participation in policymaking, monitoring and accountability (Belalba Barreto et al, 2019). In various countries, CSOs face growing constraints on their advocacy work and access to funding in relation to politically sensitive issues like human rights. Movements and organisations representing the rights of women, LGBTIQ+ people and indigenous peoples have been experiencing increasing backlash, often violent, from governments, traditionalist or nationalist leaders and extremist groups. Unless national and international actors work together to defend civic space, the COVID-19 crisis may intensify these negative trends.12

11 UN World Food Program (WFP), “Women Are Hungrier,” WFP, accessed May 5, 2020, https://wfpusa.org/women- arehungrier-infographic/ 12 See May 2020 joint statement to UN on the human rights impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic from 11 NGOs, https://www.civicus.org/index.php/media-resources/news/united-nations/geneva/4390-joint-statement-on-

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In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, wider restrictions on movement, assembly, expression, information and privacy have been introduced – justified as measures to prevent the spread of the virus. While some restrictions on civil rights may be acceptable during serious public health emergencies, under international human rights law such measures must meet certain conditions. For example, emergency restrictions must be based on scientific evidence and proportionality, must not be arbitrary or discriminatory, and should be instituted for a fixed duration. Otherwise, they can lead to human rights violations and have long-term repressive impacts on civic freedoms, citizen voice, participation and accountability. Increasing reports and examples of abuses are emerging of restrictive and emergency measures that have been applied arbitrarily, discriminately, or for political gain (see for instance Human Rights Watch, 2020; Sceats, 2020; Civicus, 2020a).

In the longer term, emergency restrictions could set the scene for setbacks on rights of free assembly, association and expression – and they could be used to suppress citizen voice. Concerns have been raised about restrictions on movement being used to suppress the voices of particular social groups. In Kyrgyzstan, members of women’s rights organisations (WROs) were arrested for holding a protest against domestic violence for International Women’s Day in March, even though there were no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country at the time (Al Jazeera, 2020). In other countries, restrictions on movement due to coronavirus have led to public demonisation of protest groups – for example, in India a local leader from the ruling Hindu nationalist party said Muslim protestors challenging controversial new citizenship laws during lockdown were ‘like terrorists on a suicide mission’ (Taragahi, 2020).

Censorship and increased control of information may become entrenched and be used to silence civic voice, even when the pandemic recedes. Some states have censored information about coronavirus and governments’ handling of the pandemic, and some have restricted access to public information. In China, the doctor who first raised concerns about the outbreak on WeChat was accused by police of spreading rumours. The chat thread was shut down and he was warned to stop telling people about the virus, on pain of imprisonment (Bociurkiw, 2020). Since then, at least four citizen journalists and critics in China have been censored, arrested, put under surveillance or disappeared, and discussion of government policies and the pandemic has been censored on the popular messaging platform WeChat (Funk and Linzer, 2020). In Thailand, officials have targeted whistle-blowers for sharing information about shortages of supplies and related corruption (Human Right Watch, 2020), while other countries, such as Iran, have restricted access to information by banning all print media distribution (CPJ, 2020). In some countries, such as Brazil, Mexico and El Salvador, deadlines and requirements for public institutions to respond to freedom of information requests have been suspended (OCCRP, 2020).

Intrusive public surveillance and policing measures could be expanded and continue beyond the pandemic. Many countries have introduced digital surveillance measures to monitor the location of citizens during the pandemic, track the spread of the virus and attempt to contain it. China, South Korea, Italy and Israel have been using smartphone software and/or location data to monitor citizens’ movements, and in China citizens’ health status is reportedly colour-coded and shared with police (Funk and Linzer, 2020). In several Africa countries, where police and military gave been given extraordinary powers to enforce lockdown regulations, there have been reports of excessive violence and abuse by the security forces (Allen and du Plessis, 2020). Such forms of surveillance and social control could potentially persist in some countries after the pandemic, posing a threat to human rights activists and civic groups whose movements and activities have already come under antagonistic scrutiny.

Emergency state executive powers could be extended and abused for political gain, leading to increased human rights violations. The pandemic has prompted many governments to declare states of emergency that grant increased and sometimes unrestrained powers to the executive branch with little or no oversight and no end date clearly specified. In Cambodia, a new emergency law grants wide-ranging powers to government. For example, organisations that are deemed to be obstructing the state’s response to the emergency or noncompliant with the response in a way that

the-human-rights-impacts-of-the-covid-19-pandemic

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creates ‘public chaos’ can be fined up to 1 billion riels (approx. $250,000). Individuals found similarly non-compliant could face fines and hefty jail sentences (Civil Rights Defenders, 2020; AKP, 2020). Since the emergency was introduced, at least 17 activists and critics of the regime have been arrested, including members of the banned opposition party (Chan Thul and Birsel, 2020). In the Philippines, President Duterte, who has been granted broad emergency powers to deal with the pandemic, has said he will order police and military to shoot anyone who “creates trouble,” raising concerns that he may use these powers to punish opponents (Haltiwanger, 2020). The introduction of emergency executive powers is particularly worrying in countries where previous emergency decrees have led to widespread human rights abuses, for example, in Ethiopia where states of emergency in 2016 and 2018 resulted in mass arrests, widespread torture, and the suspension of public media (Badwaza, 2020).

CSOs will be negatively impacted by the global economic downturn caused by the pandemic, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In recent months, the public fundraising income of CSOs in many countries has been reduced. Many international non-government organisations (INGOs) have been affected by sudden changes to institutional funding as priorities have shifted towards the pandemic response. In April 2020, a survey by Bond in the UK found that 86% of INGOs were either considering or actively cutting back overseas programme implementation, including postponement of activities, closing country offices, or limiting income to global programmes (Bond, 2020). Similarly, an April 2020 survey of 125 CSOs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) found that two-thirds of CSOs had taken at least one cost-cutting measure, most commonly cutting back services, and almost half of CSOs reported that they would have to close in the next three months without additional funding (LINC, 2020). Local CSOs in LMICs (particularly women’s rights organisations, disabled people’s organisations and organisations representing sexual and gender minorities) were already chronically underfunded before the pandemic. For marginalised people who are disproportionately impacted by the pandemic,13 these grassroots CSOs are critical to vital service delivery, protection of rights and an effective COVID-19 response. If aid budgets and public donations decline in the medium to long-term, these organisations may face an existential threat. Many NGOs and CSOs have called for unrestricted funding to support their core operational costs, continued funding for vital work that was underway prior to the pandemic, and the prioritisation of funding for local organisations (in line with existing good practice models like the ‘Grand Bargain,’ an international agreement between large donors and humanitarian aid providers that aims to get more resources into the hands of people in need).14

13 For more information on impacts for the gender and inclusion impacts of COVID-19, see the SDDirect blog series at http://www.sddirect.org.uk/our-work/covid-19-blog-series/ 14 For more on civil society recommendations on funding, partnerships and sustainability in the crisis, see CIVICUS (2020b) Open Letter “Donors and supporters must act to ensure civil society resilience against COVID- 19 pandemic”, https://www.civicus.org/index.php/media-resources/media-releases/open-letters/4346-open- letter-donors-and-supporters-must-act-to-ensure-civil-society-resilience-against-covid-19-pandemic and ICVA (2020) Reinforce, Reinforce, Reinforce: Localization in the COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response, https://www.icvanetwork.org/system/files/versions/ICVA_Localization_COVID19.pdf

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Civil society certainly faces daunting challenges that vary according to context, but it is also

18 COVID-19, gender inequality and social exclusion SDDirect evidence on longer term issues proving its worth in many ways. Across the globe, citizens and CSOs are mobilising quickly and

19 COVID-19, gender inequality and social exclusion SDDirect evidence on longer term issues repurposing their work around COVID-19 to support their communities, share vital information and

20 COVID-19, gender inequality and social exclusion SDDirect evidence on longer term issues fight disinformation. As documented in the Carnegie Endowment’s recent overview analysis, they are

21 COVID-19, gender inequality and social exclusion SDDirect evidence on longer term issues reaching out to government and business, exploring new forms of civic mobilisation (Brechenmacher,

22 COVID-19, gender inequality and social exclusion SDDirect evidence on longer term issues

Carothers and Youngs, 2020). Human rights and environmental groups are using new creative

23 COVID-19, gender inequality and social exclusion SDDirect evidence on longer term issues methods to continue their activism. Many organisations representing women, people with disabilities,

24 COVID-19, gender inequality and social exclusion SDDirect evidence on longer term issues

LGBTIQ+ people and other groups in the firing line of the pandemic are advocating successfully for a

25 COVID-19, gender inequality and social exclusion SDDirect evidence on longer term issues more inclusive response to the pandemic. To support these civil society efforts, the Carnegie article

26 COVID-19, gender inequality and social exclusion SDDirect evidence on longer term issues usefully recommends that public and private sector actors give priority to flexible funding of CSOs,

27 COVID-19, gender inequality and social exclusion SDDirect evidence on longer term issues actively connect civic groups to government pandemic responses, and push back against the trend

28 COVID-19, gender inequality and social exclusion SDDirect evidence on longer term issues towards growing constriction of civil society rights, civic freedoms and civic space. The long-term

29 COVID-19, gender inequality and social exclusion SDDirect evidence on longer term issues impact of the pandemic on civil society will depend on certain key variables: how governments use or

30 COVID-19, gender inequality and social exclusion SDDirect evidence on longer term issues abuse emergency restrictions; the extent to which governments and the private sector actively listen

31 COVID-19, gender inequality and social exclusion SDDirect evidence on longer term issues to and coordinate with civil society; the extent to which people and institutions provide much-needed financial and in-kind support to civil society, both locally and globally; and the extent to which civil society acts collectively, testing out innovative partnerships, to turn the immediate crisis response into

Box 2: how DFID-funded empowerment and accountability programmes are responding to COVID-19

STAR Ghana, a voice and empowerment programme that supports civil society to achieve increased accountability and responsiveness of the state to citizens, has launched a COVID-19 programme. The programme has three strategic objectives

 To support communities, NGOs and other citizens’ groups to develop and implement initiatives at local and national levels for supporting vulnerable groups and the implementation of national and local response plans;  To increase the transparency, responsiveness and accountability of government and its relevant agencies to citizens around the development and implementation of Covid-19 response plans, including the utilisation of resources;  To harvest, document and share learning around Covid-19 responses.  There are also plans to coordinate and motivate local giving for COVID-19 to support frontline workers who need vital resources, and develop mechanisms for citizen monitoring of COVID- 19 responses. STAR Ghana has gained trust and legitimacy within civil society and with state actors for its role over the years in supporting constructive engagements between state and non-state actors to address key developmental challenges. Its convening power has enabled it to broker relationships and strengthen spaces for inclusive dialogue and actions on salient local and national issues. Building on its role as convenor, catalyser and coordinator in Ghana, the Foundation will play a critical role in COVID-19 – linking up with faith-based organisations, disabled people’s organisations, women’s rights organisations and media that are already partners of the Foundation. STAR Ghana will continue building the capacity of its partners on gender and social inclusion and safeguarding in the COVID-19 response.

CSSP2 is a DFID Ethiopia-funded programme which seeks to increase trust between government and civil society to deliver enhanced state accountability and responsiveness, resulting in better quality public services. The programme is planning to respond to COVID-19 in the following ways:

 Bridging the information gap: CSSP2 has translated the government response and guidelines into accessible formats with guiding principles to share with their wide civil society network across Ethiopia.  Providing guidance on reaching marginalised groups: The programme developed guidance on how to respond to emerging issues facing marginalised groups, including VAWG, food insecurity, discrimination and lack of access to services. The guidance includes key contact points, sources for information, and data sources for gender and Covid-19 related issues. Brochures, and video props complying with WHO guidelines were disseminated, made accessible to persons with disabilities, and shared in different local languages. There was also a tool shared focusing on explaining Covid-19 to children (in Amharic).  Mapping of referral systems and services: CSSP2 will update their referral mappings to share with partners and communities.  Supporting virtual communication between WROs and female leaders e.g. members of cabinet, and executive organ to leverage a gendered and inclusive response; as well as develop, support and lobby for gendered security provision (police etc) – early warning, detection and response.  Providing technical support for partners who have interest on and/or are already implementing a Covid-19 response plan. an opportunity for broader systemic change. Ultimately, future resilience to shocks like COVID-19 depends on a fundamental pivot in the direction of a more equal, inclusive world in which active citizenship for all is valued and nurtured.

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33 COVID-19, gender inequality and social exclusion SDDirect evidence on longer term issues

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