The COVID-19 outbreak has hit the Asia-Pacific region hard, particularly the most vulnerable, and is deepening pre-existing inequalities — exposing vulnerabilities in social, political, and economic systems. A recent UN Women report found that women in the region, in both the formal and informal sectors, felt a much greater impact on their pocketbooks than men, with paid hours reduced, millions of job losses, and reductions to income and working hours. In some countries, nearly half of women in informal sectors have lost their jobs since the outbreak — more than double the rate of men. The report showed how unpaid domestic work, which has become even more of an essential service in the context of COVID-19, remains a duty increasingly borne by women, and for more hours. The pandemic’s realities have resulted in a deepening of existing inequalities in the gender division of labour, placing a disproportionate burden on women and girls.

The joint ADB-UN Women ministerial webinar on Promoting Gender Equality in the COVID-19 Response and Recovery was part of a series of UN Women-hosted high-level virtual ministerial roundtables with Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to highlight best practices, share experiences, and strengthen the collaboration between Multilateral Development Banks and UN agencies or the UN Member States to amplify the multilateral system response to the COVID-19 pandemic.