Yash Tiwari
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@yash
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Women – particularly the most marginalized among us – have an essential role to play in preventing this pandemic to a great extent. They are leaders in healthcare in their homes, their communities, and the public health system; they drive impact investing decisions for early detection and response; they are decision and change-makers; they are the heart of community and household decision making.

However, gender inequalities make it harder for girls and women to stay healthy and prepare themselves and their families for any potential outbreak. And although the majority of people who fall ill during a pandemic are women, they often have less access to healthcare, and their needs are more often overlooked in the response. The transmission and spread of the virus, and the treatment of those impacted are distinctly gendered. Women are at the forefront of developing these policies, providing care for those affected, and participating in the global response as key partners. The outcome of this outbreak and its global response will have a lasting impact on gender equality around the world.

The disproportionate impact of the current pandemic on women across multiple sectors from health to education to livelihoods and households is neither a coincidence nor a surprise. Women suffer disproportionately in virtually every disaster. Throughout recent history, they have suffered during earthquakes, tsunamis, floods—and now this global pandemic with its devastating impacts. The capacity of women and girls to save lives, to protect communities, and to build resilience is not a random nor a new phenomenon. Women have since early human history been the caregivers. They are in charge of passing on traditional knowledge, managing household food security, bearing children and raising them until they reach independence, and identifying dangers in the community. Women’s experience is a precious resource that can and has saved millions of lives.

In the years since the emergence of COVID-19 as a disease, women have been participating in efforts to stem the spread of the outbreak and work toward a long-term solution. Women are playing a leadership role in domestic health, and I think it’s extremely important that stories about women and their ability to take leadership roles, mobilize their communities, to deliver health services. Some women are at risk of infection because they are healthcare workers, while others are caregivers who provide support to sick family members. Still, other women have been helping get the word out about how people can avoid infection.