United Nations : Over 47 Million Women, Girls In Danger

The United Nations has called on member nations to redouble efforts to curb the widening gap of poverty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a report published on Wednesday, September 2, 2020, the humanitarian body says, the coronavirus pandemic will widen the poverty gap between women and men, pushing 47 million more women and girls into impoverished lives by next year.
The report states that, worldwide, more women than men will be made poor by the economic fallout and significant job losses caused by COVID-19, with informal workers worst hit in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, according to new UN estimates. "The increases in women's extreme poverty are a stark indictment of deep flaws in the ways we have constructed our societies and economies," Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the head of UN Women, said in a statement.
During the pandemic, women have lost their jobs at a faster rate than men, as they are more likely to be employed in the sectors hardest hit by long lockdowns such as retail, restaurants and hotels, it said. Women are also more likely to work in the informal economy, typically in jobs as domestic workers and cleaners that often come with little or no healthcare, unemployment benefits or other protections. "We know that women take most of the responsibility for caring for the family; they e...