Governance and management

With multiple crises impacting the global economy, more and more people are being pushed or pushed harder into poverty. According to the UN (2022), 1 COVID-19 caused the first increase in poverty rates in decades. Lockdowns introduced at different phases of the pandemic led to job losses and consequent losses of income, accommodation, and financial independence. It has been shown that groups at various intersections of inequality and particularly gender, class, age, and nationality were made even more vulnerable and pushed into deep poverty during the crisis.

Civil society organisations (CSOs), feminist organisations, and other initiatives played a key role in reaching out to the margins and supporting vulnerable groups who fell through the cracks of social protection schemes. Their creative strategies for fighting poverty along intersecting inequalities should be harnessed in the future to ensure a feminist and human rights approach.

Political institutions were not prepared for how much gender-based violence was both triggered and exacerbated by the lockdown restrictions and subsequent lifting of restrictions. While some efforts were made to address gender-based violence in the early pandemic policy responses, it is seldom mentioned in the National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs) and policies that were subsequently drawn up.
Instead, addressing gender-based violence should be a key concern when developing crisis management plans (including prevention, contingency plans, and recovery measures). Policymakers should learn from the COVID-19 crisis in order to design more effective responses to gender-based violence during crisis periods.