COVID-19 pandemic has taken ‘heavy toll’ on women- Hon Malone
Delivering a report of the VI’s implementation of the Santiago Commitment at the 60th Meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean on February 23, 2021, Hon Malone shared that women in the Virgin Islands were disproportionately affected since they comprise the majority of workers in the tourism sector, employed at hotels, restaurants and other hospitality businesses.
‘Women were thrust into financial hardships’
He said women, and in particular, single-family households headed by women, were thrust into financial hardship.
“While we are beginning the process of recovery from the global pandemic, there is no doubt that it has taken a heavy toll on our society, particularly on women.”
Gov’t intervention
In response to the financial challenges facing women and other vulnerable persons, Hon Malone said Government approved a “modest economic stimulus package” that provided financial and social assistance, including unemployment payments to laid-off persons, financial assistance to impacted businesses, and also financial assistance to civil society.
“We have continued to work with local NGOs such as the Family Support Network to ensure that struggling families are fed.”
Hon Malone continued that women are “disproportionately benefitting” from the assistance being provided by the Government in collaboration with civil society, private sector and international partners.
Santiago Commitment
The Santiago Commitment, adopted by the member States of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) at the fourteenth session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2020, is a regional tool to address the structural causes of gender inequality and to foster policies to respond to the pandemic in the short, medium and long term.
In the Santiago Commitment, the governments of the region agreed to implement gender-sensitive countercyclical policies to mitigate the impact of economic crises and recessions on women’s lives, and reaffirmed the need to accelerate the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Regional Gender Agenda, adopting new commitments on innovative and cutting-edge issues.
See link to full report by Hon Carvin Malone:
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9 Responses to “COVID-19 pandemic has taken ‘heavy toll’ on women- Hon Malone”
Only now you and other in charge recognizing this. For months we have been saying this. Many are crying out for assistance and to date some have not gotten any. The majority of households here are headed by women. Most of them work in the tourism and service sectors especially our expat mothers. While we do understand the situation at hand many of us were not fully prepared for this. Especially the long closure of the borders. So every time you and the Premier push back the border opening it means that we have to dig deeper into what little savings we have to try get by. These funds are drastically being depleted and for some, have none left and must come with our hands out. To add icing on this cake the Minister responsible for Labour, keeps delaying the payment for Severance Pay to us. So again Hon. Malone, what did you expect to happen.
DID U ALL GO ?