WOMEN LEADERS DRIVING THE EMERGENCY RESPONSE

When faced with emergencies such as floods, droughts, epidemics, or wars, African women traditionally play a leading role as volunteers, community mobilizers, community health workers, or as front-line responders keeping their communities together and combating these shocks.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, women are again now on the front lines as first responders, health professionals, community volunteers, transport and logistics managers, scientists, and more. In one essential role, as community health workers, they are working long hours, often underpaid, and at risk due to a lack of personal protective equipment.

Globally, where women have been in charge of the pandemic response, they have shown that a quick, firm, and empathetic response can save lives and contain the spread of the virus. In Africa, women are the vanguards of the pandemic response in their homes and communities, as entrepreneurs and managers providing care, delivering services and saving lives. They are often transforming governance and accountability at local, national, and global levels, whether as president, prime minister, CEO, government worker, or head of household.

Women activists across Africa have been organizing and calling on governments to address the gender dimensions of the pandemic. To reset, rebuild, and create greater resilience, women’s work, contributions, and leadership during the pandemic must be recognized and rewarded. And to ensure that Africa builds back better, where human rights and gender equality are central, women must be in decisionmaking and leadership positions at all levels.