The Global, Regional and Local Politics of Institutional Responses to COVID-19 : Implications for Women and Children

The shift from response to recovery is now noticeable as the world moves past the paralyzing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This book explores responses to the pandemic by international, regional, and local institutions, multilateral action, and crisis prevention efforts at different levels of governance, with a specific focus on the situation of women and children. The contributions in this volume address novel topics and expand the analysis to the different challenges faced by women and children, linking these to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, to create a holistic view of the true impact of the pandemic. The focus on international and regional cooperation provides further insights on how management of the COVID-19-induced crisis can be altered and improved. Immediate effects of the pandemic were focused on healthcare, but long-term and knock-on effects spread to different societal sectors and must be analyzed to ensure they will be addressed and, ultimately, resolved. Foreword: “Institutional Responses” to the COVID-19 Pandemic—Foreword 6 Contents 8 Notes on Contributors 10 Chapter 1: Introduction 15 References 22 Chapter 2: Leaving No One Behind: Development Financial Institutions and Gender Lens Investing in Sub-Saharan Africa 24 Introduction 24 Barriers to Women’s Participation in the Workforce 25 Women’s Participation in the Informal Sector 26 Women and Unpaid Care Work 27 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in SSA 29 Development Financial Institutions and Gender Lens Investing 31 External Policies and Best Practices 33 DFIs and Leadership 34 DFIs and the Sustainable Development Goals 35 Conclusions and Reflections 36 References 37 Chapter 3: Women and Children: International Institutions and Reponses to COVID-19 40 Introduction 40 Women, Children and Institutional Responses 43 COVID-19 and Women 48 COVID-19 and Children 50 Women, Children and Vulnerabilities: Linkages and Ways Forward 51 References 54 Chapter 4: Eradicating Child Labour Amidst Global Crises 57 Introduction: The Elimination of Child Labour Is Impossible to Achieve in Isolation 57 The Right of Children Not to Work 62 The Impact of COVID-19: Comparison with the Ebola Outbreak in Sub-Saharan Africa 67 The Response of ILO and UNICEF 71 Conclusion 74 References 75 Chapter 5: Crisis Management in Southeast Asia: Women, Violent Extremism, and COVID-19 80 Introduction 80 Reflections on Peace and Conflicts Resolution 83 The Traditional Role of Women in PVE in Southeast Asia 84 The Worrying Impact of the Pandemic on Women 87 The Worrying Impact of Covid-19 on Violent Extremism 90 A Strong Institutional Support to Female Leaders 92 Conclusion 95 Bibliography 96 Chapter 6: Preventing a Knock-On Pandemic: How the World’s Biggest Children’s Charity Responded to the Virus that Doesn’t Make Children Sick 100 Introduction 100 COVID-19 and Children 102 Theoretical Framework and Analysis 105 Save the Children and COVID-19 107 Challenges 107 Achievements 110 Internal Changes 112 Conclusion 114 Bibliography 114 Other Sources 119 Chapter 7: Falling Through the Cracks: Challenges to the Education of Refugee Children During COVID-19 121 Introduction 121 SDG 4 124 Education of Refugees Before COVID-19 125 Additional Threats to Refugee Children’s Education in the Pandemic 128 EU Member States’ Policies to Ensure Child Refugee Education 130 Germany 131 Greece 132 Sweden 133 Croatia 134 Conclusions and Recommendations 135 References 137 Chapter 8: COVID-19 and the Digital Divide: Responding to the South Asian Digital Divide in the Education Sector 143 Introduction 143 Equality and Quality of Education 147 The Digital Divide 148 Analysing the Regional and Global Responses 153 Conclusion 160 References 162 Chapter 9: Increased Domestic Violence in Europe: A Shadow Pandemic 167 Introduction 167 Domestic Violence Increases During the COVID-19 Pandemic 168 European Member States’ Reactions to the Increase in Domestic Violence 174 Recommendations 180 Conclusion 183 References 183 Chapter 10: School’s Out Forever? The Effect of COVID-19 on Educational Opportunities for Women and Girls in the Global South 188 Introduction 188 The Gender Dimension 192 Role of the United Nations 194 Bringing Back Girls to School in Nigeria 196 A Pathway Toward Possible Solutions 199 Conclusion 201 References 202 Chapter 11: Women’s Empowerment: Analyzing Ethiopia’s Amhara National Regional State 205 Introduction 205 The Legal and Institutional Framework of Women’s Empowerment in Ethiopia 209 Constraining Factors 212 Conclusions and Recommendations 218 References 220 Chapter 12: COVID-19 in the Americas: Challenges in the Institutionalisation of the Gender Equality Agenda 223 Introduction 223 Latin America and the Caribbean: COVID-19 and Women 224 COVID-19 and Gender-based Violence (GBV) 227 Americas: Recommendations and Institutional Responses on Violence Prevention 230 Responses and Application Challenges 234 COVID-19 and Brazil: A Practical Example 237 Conclusion 243 References 245 Chapter 13: Conclusion 250 References 255 Index 257 The shift from response to recovery is now noticeable as the world moves past the paralyzing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This book explores responses to the pandemic by international, regional, and local institutions, multilateral action, and crisis prevention efforts at different levels of governance, with a specific focus on the situation of women and children. The contributions in this volume address novel topics and expand the analysis to the different challenges faced by women and children, linking these to the Sustainable Development Goals, to create a holistic view of the true impact of the pandemic. The focus on international and regional cooperation provides further insights on how management of the COVID-19-induced crisis can be altered and improved. Immediate effects of the pandemic were focused on healthcare, but long-term and knock-on effects spread to different societal sectors and must be analyzed to ensure they will be addressed and, ultimately, resolved. Madeleine O. Hosli is Professor of International Relations at Leiden University, The Netherlands. She is author of The European Union and the United Nations in Global Governance (2022) and co-editor of The Changing Global Order (2020) and The Future of Multilateralism: Global Cooperation and International Organization (2021). Amy Blessing is an initiative coordinator at the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) Administrative Unit based at T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague, and treasurer at Women in International Security Netherlands. She previously worked at Leiden University as a program coordinator and has LLMs from the University of Glasgow and University of Copenhagen. Irini Iacovidou is a project coordinator at Perrett Laver, The Netherlands. She has an MSc from Leiden University in International Relations and Diplomacy. Her current research interests focus on multilateralism and international cooperation, particularly the EUs position vis-a-vis its neighboring states.