Committed to the goal that is gender equality, Gender Focus organised a roundtable discussion on 29 June 2021 to better understand the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and UK aid cuts on the lives of women and girls in marginalised communities.
Tasneem Kibria, Digital Communications Specialist, Big Blue Communications
On November 25, 2020, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) cut its grants in the aid sector which were already in distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Globally, humanitarian crises affect men and women differently, with women and girls bearing the brunt of the crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic is no different.
The devastating impact of COVID-19 lockdowns and curfews had already impacted marginalised vulnerable communities across the Global South. The COVID-19 pandemic caused massive disruptions of services, limiting access to healthcare services.
Nations reported an increase in child marriage, domestic violence, and female genital mutilation (FMG). The pandemic has set back global efforts to achieve most Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets. School closure, climate risk, violence against women, poor health outcomes, poverty, hunger, and other harmful traditional practices are risking the lives of women and girls and increasing the vulnerability of already affected communities.
In light of these issues, Gender Focus organised a virtual round table discussion on the double impact of COVID-19 and UK aid cuts on the lives of women and girls in the Global South on Tuesday, 29 June 2021.
This webinar brought in an opportunity for everyone to hear from the people who are working on the ground in terms of the impact the cuts are having on top of COVID.
Professor Tamsin Bradley, University of Portsmouth, UK
The roundtable discussion was led by speakers from Nepal, Kenya, India, UK, South Sudan, and Ethiopia working in the development and education sector in their respective countries.
Jane Meme, Monitoring, Evaluation and Gender-expert based in Nairobi, Kenya highlighted the increased incidences of gender-based violence in Kenya – reports show a 775% increase in calls to Kenya’s national GBV hotline.
UK aid programmes in the South target populations in the low-income bracket which includes poor and vulnerable families but mostly women and children. The deep budget cuts will reduce aid to Africa by 66% this year and the next.
Jane Meme, Monitoring, Evaluation and Gender Expert based in Nairobi, Kenya
Now, due to the aid cuts, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) projected a one-third reduction in progress towards ending GBV by 2030 as a result of COVID-19. Two million FGM cases and 13 million child marriages could occur in the next decade which could have been averted.
Speakers at the discussion voiced out similar effects in their respective nations. Puspa Ghimire, Economist and Gender Specialist at the Tribhuvan University in Nepal and a speaker at the roundtable emphasised how the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed many into poverty with an increase in food insecurity, violence, exclusion, human trafficking, psychological trauma, forced slavery, and so on.
Professor Ghumire stressed how the disruptions in economic activities have confined women and girls to their homes. This, in turn, has led to an increase in domestic violence and rape most perpetrated by husbands, relatives and acquaintances of victims according to the Nepal police.
In almost four months, the National Women’s Commission (NWC) received a total of 1,267 calls related to domestic violence. The available support system to respond to VAWG was also disrupted during the pandemic and lack of funds.
Professor Puspa Ghimire, Economist and Gender Specialist, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Nepal still suffers from harmful prevailing practices deeply rooted in the system, such as GBV, caste-based discrimination, menstrual restrictions, child marriage, dowry, human trafficking, and witchcraft.
Years of progress towards gender equality is at risk, Professor Ghimire stressed that gender equality is a process of behavioral change and it will take time for Nepal and other nations to recover.
Speakers brought in a world of experience from different contexts in the global South at the virtual event. Speakers included Jemila Hussen, Gender WASH consultant from Ethiopia, Nagore Moran, Gender in Emergencies Advisor, Plan International, South Sudan, and Elizabeth Devi, Founder, Member & Director, Community for Social Change and Development (CSCD), India.
They all had similar concerns about how the COVID-19 pandemic and UK aid cuts happening simultaneously will have far-reaching and long-term effects on development outcomes for women and girls in the Global South.
Gender Focus along with a number of partners including the University of Portsmouth, University of Leeds, IRC WASH, Nepal Center for Contemporary Research, and more, organised this virtual roundtable discussion. The Gender Focus platform itself encourages discussions and the sharing of resources between academics and practitioners in a space where we can learn from each other and ask safe but challenging questions.