As prepared for delivery

Excellencies,

Dear colleagues and friends.

Greetings from UNDP.

I am very pleased to join Asa in welcoming you to this HLPF side event.

As Asa mentioned, we are not on track to meet SDG 5. Decades of progress have faltered or even reversed, exacerbated by the crises. We see skyrocketing rates of gender-based violence, dramatic job losses for women and an increased care work burden.

We are at a tipping point – and jumpstarting progress for gender equality is a crucial accelerator to protect and realize human rights and to gain ground again on human development in the face of the escalating climate emergency, conflicts and the other crises we are facing.

We know we can do this – for example through social protections that attack inequalities and through ensuring diversity and inclusion in our governance systems. But are we doing it?

This is where the COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker comes in. The collaborative work over 2 years analyses gender dimensions of almost 5,000 COVID-19 response and recovery measures across 226 countries and territories.

Its findings, which Asa elaborated, echo the findings of a recent report on COVID-19 and the crisis of Governance that was released by the UNDP Oslo Governance Centre and Southern Voice. It showed that deep socio-economic inequalities have accelerated the backsliding on many internationally agreed principles, including on gender equality and human rights.

To move forward for a recovery that works for all, it is very clear where we need to continue to focus our energies:

• Women’s political participation must be boosted to ensure adequate representation during times of emergency response.

• A new social contract where countries invest in gender-responsive social protection and public services to increase resilience to future shocks.
• Supporting feminist movements;
• And improving data collection, analysis and its application in policy making.

UNDP looks forward to continuing our partnership with UN Women and with all other allies working for gender equality. We already work together in 102 countries. We also work closely with the ILO on SP and future of works. We will continue promoting gender responsiveness in the COVID-19 recovery, and building on these lessons to create a more sustainable future for all.