Global leaders applaud women's resilience during Covid-19
Members of Mama Chui Women Group in Laikipia County make masks at the height of Covid-19 in 2020.
What you need to know:
- Women global leaders have applauded the resilience of women during the hit of Covid-19.
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-chair Melinda French Gates, says when it came to who would make the masks, it was women.
- When it came to getting the vaccines to the health posts it was the women who were delivering them.
Women global leaders have applauded the resilience of women during the hit of Covid-19.
During a June 23, hybrid event on equity and innovation for Africa’s recovery, the leaders highlighted the practical ways in which the women stood strong against the Covid-19-induced health and economic shocks, lessons of which can be carried forward and inform recovery policies.
“One of the things that we saw during Covid-19 is the resilience of women,” noted Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-chair Melinda French Gates, during the virtual forum organised by Africa.com.
She said: “Seventy per cent of the healthcare workers are women and when it came to who is gonna go out to the community and give the messages…it was women; when it came to who is gonna make the masks it was women; when it came to getting the vaccines to the health posts it was the women who were delivering them.”
She called on women in the global decision-making positions to influence the making of policies that remove barriers for fellow women.
Small businesses
African Women’s Development and Communication Network Executive Director Memory Kachambwa, referred to a group of women with disability in Mombasa County who during Covid-19, made masks tailored for the deaf.
“They made masks that had a transparent front. These made it possible for them to communicate,” she said
She exemplified the importance of having women leaders through the manner in which the Kenyan government designed its anti-Covid-19 strategies.
“There was a reduction of value-added tax from 16 per cent to 14 per cent and a waiver for small businesses. This cushioned a lot of women considering they run a majority of the informal small businesses. And we know there are women who were pushing for those policies.”
In reaffirming Ms Kachambwa’s assertion, Babyl Health Rwanda managing director Dr Shivon Byamukama, said women have proved to be the gatekeepers of health in their families. As such, they ought to be at the core of finding solutions and making decisions on health.
While Roll Back Malaria Partnership to End Malaria, interim chief executive officer Dr Corine Karema, observed that removing barriers that inhibit women’s progress begins with a political will to empower them.
