The United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed has lamented that there seems to be no easy road ahead of the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to her, the economic crisis occasioned by the pandemic was tougher on women and girls with disabilities, older women, widows and single-headed households, indigenous women and girls, while adolescent girls are further marginalised.
Speaking at the 2021 Humanitarian Action Conference in Abuja, on Thursday, Mohammed said, “This year has brought its own challenges, with deepening crises in Afghanistan and Ethiopia, and famine looming in many parts of the world.
“In times of such crises, marginalised women and girls bear the consequences the most. Women and girls with disabilities, older women, widows and single-headed households, indigenous women and girls, and adolescent girls are further marginalised.”
Mohammed, whose speech was read by the Country Director, Chemonics International Nigeria, Dr Mike Egboh, noted that the pandemic has also brought to the fore extreme suffering, such as hunger, existing gender inequality increases, while risks of gender-based violence are heightened.
The deputy UN scribe added, “For example, during the pandemic, Somalia experienced a resurgence of female genital mutilation. In the Sahel, the pandemic coupled with conflict, drought and severe climate events caused spikes in early marriage, intimate partner violence and sexual violence.
“The pandemic also laid bare the profound inequities that plague indigenous people, especially women and girls in Latin America and the Caribbean.”
She noted that the pandemic has taught the world important lessons: better social protection, universal health care, vaccine equity, effective governance and strong institutions would have saved lives.
Among other recommendations, she said women’s experiences and priorities must remain central to humanitarian action, stressing that women should also be engaged in humanitarian decision-making.
In her remarks, the Executive Director of the InnerCity Mission, organiser of the Humanitarian Action conference, Omoh Alabi said, “our objectives for this conference are to discuss issues, challenges and lessons learnt on humanitarian aid and poverty eradication, especially among women and children, hence the careful selection of speakers of diverse background and rich areas of expertise.
“This conference would encourage us to eliminate corporate silos as well provide a safe space to foster and promote peer to peer collaboration amongst humanitarian actors.”
