She singled out Bangladesh for praise “where the national preparedness plan for COVID-19 explicitly commits to developing messaging to mitigate the threat of violence, domestic violence and violence against children.”

The UN Women official also urged governments to “ensure that women are at the table and part of decision-making in the face of disasters and COVID-19 specifically. If women’s organizations are not at the table please make sure to get them there.

“That is not only the right thing to do but it is also critical for ensuring very robust community-level preparedness and response because we know that these organizations have such amazing networks.”

She cited the example of Vietnam’s National COVID-19 plan which commits to engaging the Women’s Union in epidemic management.

The webinar also heard about the experience of pregnant women in Wuhan, China, which experienced the first wave of the pandemic.

In addition to the various risks inherent in pregnancy itself, COVID-19 has added to the anxiety levels of mothers-to-be as ante-natal care can be affected by a shortage of medical resources and the fear of cross-infection, said Ms. Xu Shen, Director of Photosynthetic Action, Youth Education and Development, Shanxi, speaking through a volunteer interpreter, Ms. Yvonne Leung.

Ms. Shen also highlighted the dilemma of COVID-19 infected mothers who cannot breastfeed their babies and experience further anxiety because “they are very afraid of discrimination or unfairness towards them and their babies.”

Country & Region

Asia