Noted Orthopedist, Dr Valencia Myrboh today said that progresses made in the last 25 years after the Beijing Declaration is now under threat by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The pandemic threatens to set us back of all the progress we made in the last 25 years. Gender based violence, child marriage, adolescence pregnancy beside other violence against women are all skyrocketing and on the rise during this pandemic,” she said.
Speaking as a resource person at the World Day Prayer cum International Women’s Day in Shillong on Saturday, Dr Myrboh said that COVID 19 pandemic is exhibiting the pre-existing inequalities and threatening to halt or reverse whatever changes have taken place. She said as per data the pandemic will push 47 million more women and girls into poverty in the near future.
“There have been reports of increasing violence against women throughout the world due to lockdown and in Meghalaya last year between April and July there were 61 pregnant mothers who lost their lives and 877 newborn babies who died because of lack of facilities, lack of care, and attention given to them because the concentration was against the COVID 19 and children and women neglected,” she said.
Dr Myrboh said that a study matching countries with similar profiles and the socio-demographic and the economic characteristic in the transmission of the COVID 19 showed clear differences between female-led and similar male-led countries during the first quarter of the pandemic.
“Hongkong led by a woman recorded 1056 COVID cases and four deaths while Singapore with similar economy and demographic but led by a man recorded 28,794 and 22 deaths due to COVID in the same period. Similarly, Taiwan led by a woman had 440 cases and 7 deaths while South Korea had 11,070 and 263 deaths and likewise other countries led by a woman like Finland was better than Austria, France in terms of both cases and deaths, Bangladesh better than the Philippines and Pakistan that shows woman have performed better,” she said.
She said women are soft but that softness gives rise to strength and a study shows that women leaders appear to approach crisis with a singular vision which is to save lives while male leaders set the fatality rate under the state of the economy.
“The economy is the priority for men while life is a priority for women leaders. Yet even after 110 years of celebrating International Women’s Day the prevailing plight of women in the world is hard to believe,” she lamented.
Stating that even though the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action are taking care of women in every aspect of their lives and have rules and regulation set-up, she, however, said that simply embracing the concept of women’s rights let alone enshrining those rights in-laws and constitution is not the same as achieving full equality.
“Rights are important but nothing without the power to claim,” she added.
The programme was organised by YWCA under the theme “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.”
