The unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic is affecting all of humankind. All of us, regardless of our race, colour, sex or age group, have seen our lives changed. For the most part, life as we had known it before the Covid-19 crisis will never be the same again. The first thing that came to my mind during this crisis was all the healthcare workers out there who are risking their lives so they can save their patients. I also thought about the impact of the crisis on women: women with health conditions; pregnant and lactating women; women of reproductive age; women with chronic or immune diseases; older women; women in need; and women with less access to critical services. I thought of women on the frontlines at healthcare facilities; women at orphanages and shelters for the elderly; women in fragile and informal or irregular work; women working in tourism; women working in the lower-skilled labour force and at risk of losing their jobs; women who are heads of households and women with disabilities; and women working in micro businesses. Why women specifically? Women represent 42.4 per cent of Egypt's medical profession, 91.1 per cent of nursing staff working for the Ministry of Health, and 73.1 per cent of nursing staff in private hospitals and therapeutic facilities. If healthcare services are overwhelmed by Covid-19 cases, there will be inevitable knock-on effects on women. The pandemic may compromise access to family planning services and to contraceptives, potentially leading to a rise in fertility rates and having socio-economic impacts on individuals, households and communities. Pregnant women are more likely to have contact with healthcare services such as antenatal care and delivery, and they may be more exposed to infections in such facilities, which may discourage attendance. Women are more likely to be engaged in short-term employment and on shorter contracts that may offer poorer social insurance, pensions, health-insurance schemes and lower payments. They are particularly at risk in an economic downturn. Covid-19 poses a serious threat to women's engagement in economic activities, especially in informal sectors, and it has the potential to increase gender gaps in livelihoods. The majority of Egypt's working women, 56.8 per cent, are employed in the service sector. Just over a third, 36.4 per cent, work in agriculture and 6.7 per cent work in industry. Outside the agricultural sector, 40.9 per cent of women's employment is in the informal sector. Egyptian women represent 70 per cent of the paid care sector workforce, mainly as teachers and healthcare and social workers. Moreover, the paid care sector in Egypt represents around 28 to 31 per cent of overall female employment. Women are almost four times more likely than men to work in the paid care sector, and 18.1 per cent of Egyptian households are headed by women. Women also bear the greater burden of domestic unpaid care work, and Covid-19 threatens an ever-greater demand on women's unpaid care work, especially during times of lockdown. Experience has shown that in such challenging times women are exposed to heightened risks of different kinds of violence, including psychological and physical violence. Moreover, school closures and physical distancing and containment strategies will affect girls and boys differently. Adolescent girls are particularly affected. They are more likely to be expected to take on unpaid care duties, limiting their access to remote learning programmes and making them further vulnerable to early marriage, especially in poorer families.
GOVERNMENT ROLE: The Egyptian government understands the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on women. The eagerness of president Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi to celebrate Egyptian Women's Day despite all that was happening was the best evidence of the political will to protect and empower Egyptian women. The president spoke of the response that has been developed to fight the virus, and he issued a set of economic and social-protection measures to support and protect all of society, stressing his appreciation of Egyptian women and the importance of their continuing their vital roles. The president's words will remain engraved on my mind forever. “We care most about our people and humanity, without consideration for any material losses,” he said. The president's message has been put into action. The government led by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli has set out proactive, professional and humanitarian measures, adapted with total consideration for women's needs and reflected in care for their entire families in order to meet the crisis. These measures have touched each and every Egyptian citizen, confirming that the entire country and all its institutions are working in an integrated manner to consider women's needs when drafting policies and programmes to deal with the pandemic. The policy paper drawn up in response to women's situation during the Covid-19 outbreak was the first of its kind to be published by any government worldwide. This was done through the National Council for Women on 30 March, and the paper suggested the following response measures to the Covid-19 crisis in the immediate and medium terms under the following pillars:
- Impacts on human endowment - Women's voice and agency - Impacts on economic opportunities - Promoting data and knowledge
The first pillar covers all health aspects, both psychological and physical, as well as reproductive healthcare services, social protection programmes, response measures for older women, women with disabilities, pregnant women and women of reproductive age, and education to deal with the possibility of girls dropping out of school. The second pillar, particularly concerned with the problem of violence against women and the promotion of women's leadership and decision-making during the crisis, looks at how women's participation in the decision-making process can enhance health security and control mechanisms and ensure that women have access to all relevant information. It also considers how response measures can provide psychosocial, legal and advisory support for women who may be subject to violence during this time. The third pillar supports women workers whose livelihoods may have been affected or whose income from freelance work may have declined. Alternative solutions will be proposed to address the economic downturn. The fourth pillar considers promoting the compilation of data by sex, age and disability-disaggregation as a result of Covid-19, including tracking emergency response measures, supporting policy research and social innovation, monitoring and evaluating the impacts of Covid-19, and conducting public-opinion surveys in order to help design preventive measures.
MEASURES TAKEN: The National Council for Women has established a Women Policy Tracker on Responsive Policies and Programmes during the Covid-19 pandemic and documented 20 measures taken by the government in response to women's needs during the outbreak, with work being still in progress. These measures include the closure of universities, schools and nurseries as protection for children, special leave for employees in government authorities prioritising pregnant women and the mothers of children under the age of 12 or disabled children on full pay, and special measures to dispense medicines for chronic diseases, formula milk and family planning methods for three months to ensure accessibility to essential reproductive healthcare services for women. Two hotlines have been made available to provide essential psychological support at home. Other measures include intensified precautionary support for children in foster homes, welfare homes, correctional institutions, orphanages, nursing homes and social protection facilities, and services for people with disabilities. Women's shelters have improved their preparedness for any potential cases of violence against women as a result of the lockdown. A communications strategy with awareness-raising material on all media platforms has been launched. For social protection and cash transfers, the government has announced expanding the Takaful and Karama programmes to 100,000 households and tripling the monthly income for rural women leaders from LE300 to LE900 per month. Decree 776 of 2020 has been issued establishing a workers' emergency benefits fund and forming a committee for irregular workers affected by the economic repercussions of the crisis. This is being led by the prime minister and with the minister of planning and economic development as rapporteur, with the National Council for Women as a committee member among other concerned entities. The government has thus demonstrated its belief in women's representation, participation and involvement throughout the decision-making process and has shown its determination to take their needs seriously into consideration. It has also announced the registration of irregular workers to receive an exceptional allowance of LE500. The president has issued a decree intended to increase the monthly allowance for medical professionals by 75 per cent and establish a risk fund for them, in addition to the disbursement of exceptional bonuses for workers in quarantine and for fever and chest hospitals and labs across Egypt. Bonuses granted to medical interns in some hospitals have been raised to LE2,200 from LE400. Installments from microfinance clients have been reduced or postponed by 50 per cent of the value of each installment, and microfinance clients who make timely payments have been exempted from commissions on the prepayment of indebtedness or reductions in the administrative fees to renew existing funding. The National Council for Women has launched awareness-raising campaigns on various media platforms. The Council's complaints office is also working harder than ever to register complaints from women negatively impacted by the crisis. The first guidelines targeting women with disabilities and Covid-19 have been launched to serve their needs. This crisis is putting pressure on all concerned. But when I look at all these beautiful collective efforts made by everyone involved and all those working with complete devotion to protect this country and its women, I can only be thankful. When I see that women's needs are a government priority, I feel protected, empowered and equal. Women should always be at the heart of each and every policy. This is our story in Egypt, and history will always remember it. Mindsets have changed, and women's issues will be imprinted on the minds of all of us for generations to come.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 23 April, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
