ECLAC wants countries to make ‘concrete budgetary allotments’ to protect women’s jobs

The Head of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is calling for the urgent implementation of active fiscal policies with a gender approach, as a specific part of the wider menu of measures to mitigate the disproportionate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on women.

“Concrete budgetary allotments are needed to protect women’s employment, both in the formal and informal sectors; to promote their full participation in production and in the benefits of the digital revolution and to close the gap in access to financing by providing credits and insurance,” ECLAC Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena, is quoted as saying in statement issued late last week by the body. And in light of what the Commission sees as the greater impact of COVID-19 on women than men, Bárcena is calling for a sense of urgency by governments in the region for the implementation of these policies in order to provide immediate-term mitigation of the disproportionate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on women.

The view of the ECLAC Head on the impact which COVID-19 has had on women in the hemisphere is borne out by the situation in much of the Caribbean, where the highest levels of job losses have occurred in the tourism, and more particularly in the hospitality sector that is dominated by women receiving modest wages. Here in Guyana, whilst the modest size of the tourism industry means that a relatively small proportion of employed women work there, research undertaken by the Stabroek Business has revealed that significant numbers of women operating micro and small businesses in the agroprocessing and retail vending sectors have had their wages reduced, and in some instances, removed altogether on account of the restrictive effects that the pandemic has had on their ability to both manufacture and trade.

Since most local women agro-processors rely on distribution outlets and their own vending efforts to market their produce, with the loss or reduction of those opportunities resulting from COVID-19, significant loss of markets been a major factor in their changed circumstances.

Feedback from interviews with women involved in these sub-sectors suggest that in many instances, restrictions on their ability to pursue their accustomed business activities has led to significant reduction in earnings, and in some instances, less of earnings altogether. The impact of this, some of the women have told us, has affected their ability to provide adequately for family needs. Most of the women with whom this newspaper has spoken have criticised the government’s response or lack thereof, which one respondent referred to as “the many months of nothing happening as far as help from government is concerned.”

At the level of the hemisphere, ECLAC, in its statement, has proffered the grim forecast to the effect that the worsening economic climate will see a further 231 million people slide into poverty in Latin America this year of whom 118 million will be women. Additionally, ECLAC says in its statement, 21 million women will be unemployed and one of every two of those employed will have jobs in the informal sector without social protection.

In her statement the ECLAC Head posited that gender inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean had been exacerbated by the pandemic since women in the region have been more affected by the increase in unemployment and poverty and by the greater burden of unpaid domestic and care work.

“A recovery and economic transformation with gender equality at the centre must acknowledge and redistribute power, time, work and resources. We need to break the statistical silence and empower women along the three dimensions of their autonomy (economic, physical and political) through a political compact at a national and regional level,” Bárcena declared.

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The group warned meanwhile, that the COVID-19 pandemic should not be used as an excuse to weaken environmental regulations in the process of seeking to foster economic growth. “Recovery strategies must recognize that ecosystem integrity plays a key role in keeping societies healthy and on a path towards sustainability,” the CPF grouping asserted.

The forest sector should also take advantage of a ‘historic opportunity’ presented by growing awareness of the need for, and benefits of, living in harmony with nature, according to the statement.

The private sector is showing more interest than ever in investing in nature-based solutions, while the finance sector is increasingly aware of the risks posed to their portfolios by climate change and biodiversity loss, CPF members noted.

“There is a strong need to unlock investment opportunities that strengthen livelihoods, are deforestation-free, and mitigate the risks of future zoonotic diseases,” the CPF declared.