The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in at least 119.2 million cases and over 2.6 million deaths worldwide . From decision-makers and doctors, to entrepreneurs and care providers, women have been at the forefront of the COVID-19 response. Despite their enormous contributions to mitigating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the crisis is threatening to erase decades of progress for women and girls. While men have been most affected in terms of fatalities, COVID-19 has exacerbated economic crises, care deficits and the ‘shadow pandemic’ of gender-based violence, with disproportionate impacts on women . Inequalities between groups of women based on race, disability, income, age and more have also been starkly apparent in both the spread and the impact of the virus.

Based on a unique database compiled by UNDP and UN Women, this factsheet provides an overview of the COVID-19 response so far of governments in the Arab States with a focus on measures aimed at addressing threats to gender equality across three key dimensions: the surge in violence against women and girls, the unprecedented increase in unpaid care work, and the economic insecurity caused by the large-scale loss of jobs, incomes and livelihoods. Overall, the region’s gender response has been uneven across countries, and challenges have been compounded by low rates of testing and reporting, high levels of extreme poverty, ongoing regional conflicts and unmet COVID-19 funding needs . Despite this, examples of innovative, gender-responsive measures continue to be implemented in a range of contexts.