Covid-19 pandemic hits women hard, observes NSU webinar

North South University (NSU) organised a webinar titled ‘Socio-Economic Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Women of Bangladesh’ on Saturday.

The webinar was broadcasted live on North South University's official Facebook page, reads a press release.

Speaking as the chief guest, M A Kashem, chairman of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of NSU, said the effects of Covid-19 are currently not limited to health problems; its adverse effects are also being felt in the economic and social sectors of the country.

Referring to a United Nations study, former FBCCI president Kashem, also founder chairman of Southeast Bank Limited, said Covid-19 has added new responsibilities to the scope of women's work, called unpaid service, even though a woman has to spend three times as much as a man.

“In addition to the formal sector in Bangladesh, the participation of women in the economy in all sectors, such as cottage, micro, small and medium enterprises, women entrepreneurs and women workers in the informal sector have spread to various dimensions,” he added.

Rehana Rahman and Yasmin Kamal, members of NSU board of trustees, were present as special guests.

Rehana Rahman said, “The Covid-19 pandemic has more serious impact on women than it has on men globally.”

“Women, both in the formal sector and informal sector, are facing challenges at workplace as well as home due to increased workload.

“Due to staying home most of the time, their field of social communication has become smaller, on the other hand, exercise, travel, etc. have decreased. As a result, they are facing two kinds of difficulties – physical and mental,” she added.

Yasmin Kamal said, “The effects of the global Covid-19 epidemic are devastating.”

“In addition to economic losses, domestic violence against women is on the rise. Even child marriage has increased so much that it demands a special role of the authorities,” she said.

“We are seeing a negative impact on girls' education, especially in rural areas,” she said, adding: “The negative effects of Covid's influence on women's lives and livelihoods are far-reaching and of special importance.”

“We all need vision and cooperation so that this difference between men and women does not increase.”

Speaking at the event, Dr Fahmida Khatun, executive director of the Center of Policy Dialogue, (CPD), said, “During the pandemic, many women who were working in the formal sector lost their jobs, and physical and mental abuse on women have increased.”

Women entrepreneurs in small and medium enterprises have lost capital due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she said, adding: “It is necessary for the government to take various incentive measures for women to solve all these problems.”

Dr Nazneen Ahmed, Senior Research Fellow at BIDS, said, “More than one lakh garment workers have lost their jobs due to the Covid-19pandemic.”

The environment in which women workers live is very inhumane, she noted.

“In order to solve all these problems, the concerned authorities have to take necessary initiatives to improve the working environment for women and provide job security.”

Nobonita Chowdhury, director of the Gender Justice and Diversity (GJD) division at Brac, said, “Women are lagging behind in the information technology sector. Especially when we look at the statistics of mobile users, it is seen that the number of female users is much less than half of the total users.”

Another statistic shows that a man is also deciding whether a woman in a family can use a mobile phone, she said.

“Now the hotline number has been arranged at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic so that no one is abused, but how can women apply for help if they do not have a mobile?”

Dr Sayema Haque Bidisha, a professor of Dhaka University, and write Fariha Panni, among others, spoke at the seminar moderated by Dr Kanti Ananta Nuzhat, assistant professor of the Department of Economics at NSU.