Before the coronavirus pandemic, the world was already unequal. Hence activists and organisations fighting and marching for gender equality, equality of opportunity and education, among others. However, COVID-19 has exposed and exacerbated global economic inequality – geographically and socially. The health crisis has had a devastating impact on poverty levels and inequality.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in China and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 1995.
COVID-19 lockdowns may be gradually easing, but anxiety about the world’s social and economic prospects is only intensifying. There is good reason to worry: a sharp economic downturn has already begun, and we could be facing the worst depression since the 1930s.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) recently released its 2020 Global Gender Gap Report. The report assessed the rate of gender parity and concluded that it would take another 99.6 years before gender parity is achieved.
Globally, women still struggle to reach top leadership positions and are also less likely to become entrepreneurs.
Businesses in the Philippines are taking measures to improve or preserve the gender balance in leadership roles. According to a recent report, ‘Women in Business’ by Grant Thornton International Ltd., female executives in senior management positions in Philippine companies dropped to 37.5 percent in 2019 down from 47 percent in 2018.
