Women worldwide are being shut out of decisions regarding the coronavirus pandemic due to unequal representation on Covid-19 task forces, said the UN Development Programme (UNDP). A recent study by the UN agency found that women make up only 24 per cent of coronavirus task forces in 137 countries, despite the fact that they represent 70 per cent of health workers worldwide.
Women “have been systematically excluded from the decision-making processes on how to address the impacts of the pandemic,” said Achim Steiner, the UNDP administrator, in New York on Monday. The data show that 26 of these task forces don’t have a female representative at all, while just eight countries have task forces with gender parity.
– Vanguard