FP Virtual Dialogue: Gender Equality and the World’s Economic Recovery

June 28, 2021

A pivotal opportunity for a more just future

Women around the world are shouldering the brunt of the economic and social burdens created by the COVID-19 pandemic, with women more likely to have lost their jobs or been forced to leave the workforce to care for children or loved ones. An estimated 11 million girls worldwide may not return to school as a result of the pandemic. Millions more have been pushed to poverty.

While the crisis has exposed many of the cracks and inequities across our global systems, it can also serve as an opportunity to shape more inclusive, sustainable and resilient approaches to global development. Rather than setting back the cause of gender equality, how can we center women and their rights in the global recovery effort?

As the world gears up for the Generation Equality Forum, Foreign Policy convened leading thinkers and doers across government, civil society and multilateral organizations worldwide to share practical insights and policy recommendations for harnessing the potential of women to drive transformative change locally and globally.

Our conversation:

Examined the gendered impacts of global crises and explored opportunities to accelerate women’s economic recovery, such as through data collection; aid and technical assistance that focuses on safety; support for small businesses, the care economy, and capacity-development of women around the world
Spotlighted how crisis response and relief efforts can incorporate a gender dimension to spur a more equitable economic recovery
Illustrated examples of gender-intentional policies and how civil society, governments, and multilateral organizations can contribute to cross-cutting initiatives that put women at the heart of economic recovery and have the reach, scope and scalability for meaningful impact

Join the conversation online using #ActforEqual

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Listen to the podcast here:

Read FPA's report on Elevating Gender Equality in COVID-19 Economic Recovery:

Speakers

Anila Denaj

Minister of Finance and Economy, Republic of Albania

Mrs. Anila Denaj has graduated in Finance and Banking Management in 1995 at the University of Tirana and has over 22 years of working experience. In September 2018, Mrs. Denaj w...

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Dr. Nadine Gasman Zylbermann

President, National Institute for Women of Mexico

Dr. Nadine Gasman Zylbermann is President of the National Institute for Women of the Government of Mexico. With a PhD in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, Master in P...

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Saba Gebremedhin

Executive Director, Network of Ethiopian Women's Associations

Saba Gebremedhin, born and raised in Addis Ababa, is a lawyer by training and profession. She previously served as an assistant judge as well as special prosecutor and assistant...

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Jennifer Klein

Co-Chair and Executive Director, White House Gender Policy Council

Jennifer Klein is a Co-Chair and the Executive Director of the White House Gender Policy Council. She was previously the Chief Strategy and Policy Officer at TIME’S UP where s...

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Reena Ninan

Founder, Good Trouble Productions

Reena is a television journalist who has worked as a White House correspondent, foreign reporter, and news anchor for ABC, CBS, and Fox News. She has re...

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Anita Zaidi

President, Gender Equality and Director, Vaccine Development and Surveillance, and Director, EDD, Gates Foundation

Anita Zaidi is the president of the foundation’s Gender Equality Division. In this role, Anita oversees the foundation’s efforts to achieve gender equality by integrating ge...

Anita Zaidi is the president of the foundation’s Gender Equality Division. In this role, Anita oversees the foundation’s efforts to achieve gender equality by integrating gender across the foundation’s global work and investing in women’s economic empowerment, women’s leadership, and removing the barriers for women and girls to thrive. The mission of the Gender Equality Division is a world in which women and girls have equal opportunity. Anita also serves as the foundation’s director of the Vaccine Development, Surveillance, and Enteric and Diarrheal Diseases programs. Since joining the foundation in 2014, she has led a team focused on vaccine development for people in the poorest parts of the world, surveillance to identify and address causes of death in children in the most under-served areas, and significantly reducing the adverse consequences of diarrheal and enteric infections on children’s health in low and middle-income countries. Through this role, Anita champions innovative work on behalf of low-income women and children, including the creation of the Women Leaders in Global Health program—now called WomenLift Health—to promote diversity in global health leadership. She also works closely with the foundation’s Maternal Newborn Child Health Discovery & Tools program. Previously, Anita was the department chair of Pediatrics and Child Health at the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan, where she worked to reduce child mortality through the prevention and treatment of illness. She obtained her medical degree specializing in pediatric infectious diseases at Aga Khan University, and completed further trainings at Duke University, Boston’s Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and the Harvard School of Public Health. To date, Anita has published more than 200 research papers on vaccine-preventable diseases and newborn infections in resource-limited settings. In 2013, Anita became the first recipient of the $1 million Caplow Children’s Prize for her pioneering work bringing health services and wraparound care to mothers and children in poverty-stricken communities in Karachi. She was also nominated as a notable physician of the year in 2014 by Medscape.

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