“As we face a global pandemic that has taken the lives of more than 800,000 people as of right now around the world, we certainly have to recognize the particular impacts that that has had on women and girls and their lives,” said Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), at a recent event hosted by CARE and UNFPA about the global impact of COVID-19 on women and girls. While women make up 70-80 percent of frontline healthcare workers globally, they have also been disproportionately affected during the pandemic by increased rates of gender-based violence, lack of access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, and economic and food insecurity.

Verónica Simán, Representative from UNFPA Colombia, noted that there has been a 148 percent increase in gender-based violence during the quarantine period compared to the same period last year. She also said that due to fear of infection, women are afraid to seek health services and reproductive healthcare has become secondary for many women. In response, UNFPA has worked to increase access to reproductive healthcare through virtual services and a telephone helpline for healthcare professionals to consult experts about sexual health services and gender-based violence concerns.

Michael Alandu, CARE’s Country Director for Sierra Leone, said women in his community have been severely impacted by food insecurity and limited access to water, creating significant danger for pregnant women. Additionally, he said the severe economic crisis means women will have to decide, “Do I get a face mask or buy some food?”

The importance of interconnectedness, global health, and public health systems were common themes throughout the event. The Global Health Security Agenda, launched by UNFPA in 2014, seeks to strengthen the capacity of countries to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease and requires countries to collaborate and work with international organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO). Coordinated responses are necessary and the pandemic has shown an important opportunity for solidarity, “that should give us hope for the human race,” said Simán.

The United States has been a leader on the Global Health Security Agenda in the past but is not currently funding UNFPA. Despite this, UNFPA has provided critical support to over 18 million people during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Simán. Rep. Houlahan said, “I am disappointed, to be fully transparent, at the abdication that I’ve seen from our country recently on these very critical issues of participating and leading in issues of women and girls and their health.” Funding for UNFPA from other countries has been essential for the protection of sexual and reproductive healthcare during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Women and girls are the power of our economies, and when women and girls are successful, families, communities, and countries are successful, and the world is more peaceful, said Rep. Houlahan. “The good news is there are more women at the table now,” she said. “When women are at the table, women and family issues become the issues, I think, of the Congress.”