Achieving an equal future for women in a Covid-19 world

This year's International women's day (IWD) is being celebrated at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has devasted many achievements the world had so far made. From a health crisis, the pandemic has turned into an economic and social problem. Hence, it has not only reduced economic progress and squeezed individual income, it has disrupted every aspect of human lives in all possible ways. The impact of the pandemic on women has been disproportionate. Women have experienced increased violence, have lost jobs and income, and took more burden of work at home. Girls dropped out of schools and got married at an early age risking their health. So, on the whole, the pandemic has taken away much of the achievements that were made in case of women's empowerment. Many successes have been reversed. 

Now, more than a year after the beginning of the outbreak and with vaccination rolling out, an economic recovery is expected to be on the horizon. However, this recovery will not happen at the same pace for everyone. Economists have suggested that the recovery from the pandemic will be "K" shaped. This means that while the larger and stronger businesses will be able to rebound fast, the smaller and weaker ones will lag behind. Women fall in the second category. Women are mostly engaged in micro, small and medium enterprises. Their businesses are often informal in nature. With limited access to finance, they are not being able to recover from the economic shock of the pandemic. So, they will still be struggling while others move ahead.

In this context, how is the theme of IWD 2021, "Women in leadership: achieving an equal future in a covid-19 world," relevant? The theme is a reflection of the present situation. It could also be a reality of the future. As opposed to women's increased vulnerability, it has also been observed that across the world, women have worked relentlessly as front-line workers in hospitals during the pandemic. At home, women have been in charge of the healthcare of family members. Women leaders in charge of leading countries have been prompt and more efficient in tackling the challenges of the pandemic. Now, in the recovery phase, women are playing crucial roles by extending their services in several ways. These include providing vaccination and other healthcare services, extending social services and working at home and offices.

The pandemic has also expedited the digitisation which has benefited many women along with men. The fact that remote work is possible using technology has created opportunities for women. Those who would have left their jobs because they were being unable to attend to their young children or families, will now be able to participate in the workforce. They will also be able to enhance their skills by enrolling themselves in online courses and trainings which will help them in career progression, and provide them with better jobs and higher income. It has been widely discussed that several smart organisations will continue to rely on technology during the post-pandemic period. They are investing on IT infrastructure. Technology based work has been found to be more efficient, smart and productive. Physical presence at offices involves higher operational costs. So, even in a pandemic free world, technology will determine the modality of work which may not necessarily require physical presence at offices for several types of jobs.

This is an opportunity for both women workers and their employers. While women will be able to work from home, organisations will also be able to retain their skilled female workforce. This will help towards higher participation of women in the formal sector jobs. In Bangladesh, women's participation in the labour force has increased significantly during the last five decades. From a mere 4 percent in 1974, women's participation in the labour force has now increased to about 36 percent. Almost 92 percent of those employed in the labour force work in the informal sector without any job guarantee. Also, not many women are working in the senior positions of organisations. Women in decision making jobs are even fewer. In case of technology-based work, women in Bangladesh have even lesser presence. The pandemic has also opened up opportunities for IT based services and businesses. The potential for e-commerce has increased. Unfortunately, not many Bangladeshi women entrepreneurs could make use of this opportunity. Lack of skills is a major impediment. As a result, inequality in terms of access to jobs and higher income exists.

In order to attain an equal future during and after the pandemic, women in Bangladesh must be well equipped through better education and training. Technological upgradation in many sectors has taken away more jobs from women than from men. The largest sector for female employment is the readymade garments (RMG) factories where female participation was almost 80 percent of all RMG workers initially, but has now declined to about 61 percent, according to a survey by the Centre for Policy Dialogue. This is due to increased automation in the sector.

Therefore, if women are not provided with opportunities for upgrading their technological skills, there will be further inequality. While there is a need for rooting out the cultural barriers through education and awareness building the socio-economic barriers will have to be removed by bringing more women into the formal sector. This will require higher and quality education, and technological capacity development for women in Bangladesh. The theme of the IWD 2021 can be materialised through proactive measures for women during the pandemic and beyond.

Dr Fahmida Khatun is the Executive Director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue.

Views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of her organisation.