Chairperson’s participation in IPS Webinar and publication* on The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Women and Girls
Our Chairperson Ms. Saima Wazed, participated in a webinar on “The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Women and Girls”, hosted by Inter Press Service UN Bureau, which took place on 14 July 2020. The discussion at the webinar focused on bringing the collective strengths of the participants together to influence policy and decision makers to confront the inequalities which women and girls encounter globally. Along with Saima Wazed, there were four other esteemed speakers- Josefina Stubbs, Senior Associate Enel, Former UN Assistant, Secretary General, Vice President, UN IFAD; Yasmine Sherif, Director, Education Cannot Wait; Catherine Bertini, Distinguished Fellow, Chicago Council, Former Executive Director, WFP; Susan Papp, Managing Director, Policy & Advocacy, Women Deliver and the webinar was moderated by Doaa Abdel Motaal, Advisor, Guarini Institute of Public Affairs. The objective of the webinar was to encourage individuals and nations to revisit their roles in battling with this phenomenon. They discussed challenges women face daily and what measures could be taken to make women and girls a priority in every corner of the world. Ms. Saima Wazed wrote an op-ed titled “The Quiet Survivors of a Global Pandemic” on the same theme, where she emphasizes on how, despite having many powerful female figures as an inspiration, till date women are suffering in silence, as they do not have the voice to speak their mind or pursue their dreams. Women across the globe are victims of domestic violence, which have increased in the global pandemic. Additionally, women who worked in the informal sector, have been left particularly vulnerable, unaccounted for and unsupported, significantly impacting their financial and emotional well-being during this pandemic. All these issues need to be acknowledged, to ensure the safety of women and to find solution to these problems. Ms. Saima Wazed’s op-ed has been published by IPS, which is available in: http://www/ipsnews.net/2020/07/quiet-survivors-global-pandemic/ *Inter Press Service (IPS) released an e-publication on December 2020, based on the webinar on Impact of Covid-19 on Women and Children. The e-publication has been developed using the information and knowledge shared by the six participants during the webinar. As one of the participants, our Chairperson, Ms. Saima Wazed's full article titled "Bangladesh's Response to the Pandemic: A Case for Women" can be accessed through: http://www.ipsnews.net/documents/E-Publication_IPS.pdf
