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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:18.75pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#999999"><a href="http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/mDeuCokpoMsmpKqQfEabbgfCtCfM?format=multipart" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;color:#0079C1;text-decoration:none">Asia-Pacific
Study Details Pandemic Impact on Women</span></b></a> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:18.75pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black">A study by the United Nations Women's Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific found that women in the region are being
disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Women are more likely to lose hours at work, experience higher levels of stress and have less health insurance than men on average, the study found.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://theprint.in/india/less-working-hours-higher-stress-drop-in-income-un-survey-shows-how-covid-affected-women/455432/"><span style="color:blue">https://theprint.in/india/less-working-hours-higher-stress-drop-in-income-un-survey-shows-how-covid-affected-women/455432/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:3.75pt;line-height:40.5pt"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#111111">Fewer Working Hours, Higher Stress, Drop in Income: UN Survey on How Covid-19 Affected Women<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:9.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:9.0pt;margin-left:0cm;line-height:18.75pt">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"open sans";color:#525252">The surveys were conducted in April across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Samoa, the Solomon Islands & Thailand.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:15.75pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222"><img border="0" width="696" height="392" style="width:7.25in;height:4.0833in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D653E0.8CFA4540" alt="Women sit with their children on a footpath in Agra | Praveen Jain | ThePrint"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222">Women sit with their children on a footpath in Agra, India - Praveen Jain | ThePrint<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"open sans";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"open sans";color:black"><a href="https://theprint.in/author/taran-deol/" title="Posts by Taran Deol"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:#CF461F;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:.25pt;text-decoration:none">TARAN
DEOL</span></b></a> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"open sans";color:#444444">6 July, 2020
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"open sans";color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:19.5pt"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222">New Delhi:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222"> Women are more
likely to have their working hours reduced, experience a higher rate of stress, and are less likely to be covered by health insurance in the wake of the Covid pandemic.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:19.5pt;line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222">These are some of the findings of surveys <a href="https://data.unwomen.org/resources/surveys-show-covid-19-has-gendered-effects-asia-and-pacific" target="_blank"><span style="color:#CF461F;text-decoration:none">conducted</span></a> by
the UN Women’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Thailand.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:19.5pt;line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222">The surveys, conducted in April, have revealed how the pandemic has had gendered consequences in these
nations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:19.5pt;line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222">While preliminary data is available only for a few countries — Bangladesh (2,350 total respondents), Cambodia
(1,164), Maldives (4,754), Pakistan (2,668), the Philippines (1,887) and Thailand (5,031) — it has shed light on how women continue to be affected more than their male counterparts during the pandemic. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:20.25pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:12.75pt;margin-left:0cm;line-height:26.25pt">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#111111">Access to information<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:19.5pt;line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222">Owing to differences in cell phone ownership, access to internet and education, fewer women in Bangladesh
and Pakistan are receiving necessary information about the pandemic, the survey report stated. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:19.5pt;line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222">Women’s access to reliable sources of information is not essential just for themselves, but also their
families since they “tend to play an important role in promoting hygiene routines within the household and caring for family members”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:20.25pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:12.75pt;margin-left:0cm;line-height:26.25pt">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#111111">Mental health and insurance<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:19.5pt;line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222">While Covid-19 is hitting men harder than women, with several studies<a href="https://www.healthline.com/health-news/men-more-susceptible-to-serious-covid-19-illnesses" target="_blank"><span style="color:#CF461F;text-decoration:none"> revealing</span></a> how
more men are dying because of the virus, the case is not the same for mental health. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:19.5pt;line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222">As an increasing number of women participate in unpaid care and domestic work or losing jobs and income,
and are facing more instances of domestic violence than before — all owing to varying degrees of a coronavirus-induced lockdown — the surveys revealed a higher rate of stress and anxiety among them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:19.5pt;line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222">Barring Bangladesh and Samoa, more women than men in Cambodia, Maldives, Pakistan, Thailand, Nepal and
Philippines have reported mental health issues, the report stated. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:19.5pt;line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222">Access to medical care has also proven to have a gender disparity with women from more than half the countries
surveyed being unable to see a doctor when they needed to. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:19.5pt;line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222">While data revealed it is difficult for both men and women to find necessary medical supplies, hygiene
products and food, women in Bangladesh, Thailand and Pakistan “<a href="https://data.unwomen.org/resources/surveys-show-covid-19-has-gendered-effects-asia-and-pacific" target="_blank"><span style="color:#CF461F;text-decoration:none">are</span></a> more likely
than men to experience longer wait times to see a doctor”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:19.5pt;line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222">Moreover, women in Bangladesh and Pakistan are less likely to be covered by health insurance, while in
Maldives — where public health service is universal — private top-up insurance reflected a similar trend. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:20.25pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:12.75pt;margin-left:0cm;line-height:26.25pt">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#111111">Employment and work<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:19.5pt;line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222">In most countries, initiating a lockdown and gradually rolling it back was a balancing act between saving
lives and livelihoods. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:19.5pt;line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222">While those working in the informal sector are more likely to lose their jobs due to an economic shock
— much like the pandemic-induced lockdown — the reality is only much graver for counties in the Asia-Pacific, given a majority of them are informally employed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:19.5pt;line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222">With job losses ranging from 25-56 per cent in the informal sector, women are more likely to have their
working hours reduced in Bangladesh and Maldives, while in Cambodia, Pakistan and the Philippines, the men are likely to have more reduced working hours.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:19.5pt;line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222">In the formal sector, women in Bangladesh, the Maldives, the Philippines and Thailand are seeing large
reductions in working hours.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:19.5pt;line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222">In Bangladesh, “<a href="https://data.unwomen.org/resources/surveys-show-covid-19-has-gendered-effects-asia-and-pacific" target="_blank"><span style="color:#CF461F;text-decoration:none">women</span></a> in
formal employment are almost six times as likely to work fewer hours than their male counterparts since the outbreak of the virus”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:19.5pt;line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222">Women are also more likely to report a “<a href="https://data.unwomen.org/resources/surveys-show-covid-19-has-gendered-effects-asia-and-pacific" target="_blank"><span style="color:#CF461F;text-decoration:none">drop</span></a> in
income from investments or savings and financial support from family and friends”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:19.5pt;line-height:19.5pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222222">The lockdown has also prompted many to take up unpaid domestic work such as cleaning, cooking, serving
meals, caring for the elderly and children etc. However, these duties “appear to almost exclusively be women’s responsibilities in all countries surveyed”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">____________________________________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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