Second webinar organized by GBWN – Looking for a feminist recovery after COVID-19

Today, the Gender Budget Watchdog Network (GBWN) organized the second webinar titled "Looking for a Feminist Recovery after COVID-19", where more than 80 participants took part.

The webinar was opened by Mrs. Olga Martinez Gonsales, who is the gender focal point at DG NEAR at the European Commission. She explained the EU's Gender Action Plan III (GAP III) and its commitment to gender responsive budgeting. She emphasized that the document consists of five pillars - the EU's commitment to gender equality, the EU's strategic commitment, six main areas for commitment, the EU leads by example and the pillar of accountability.

Afterwards, Mrs. Marija Risteska spoke, who is executive director of the Center for Research and Policymaking and regional director of GBWN.

Risteska presented the main findings of the monitoring of the fiscal impact of Covid-19 on women in the Western Balkans and the Republic of Moldova. She said that serious challenges and problems have been noticed in meeting the needs of different women and men, in almost all the researched areas – response time, gender responsiveness of the budget (fiscal measures for responding to COVID-19), transparency of the Covid-19 response process, accountability for the response to Covid-19 and the impact on women, as well as the impact of gender-based fiscal measures of Covid-19. She also focused on recommendations for improving the situation, such as more support for women entrepreneurs, digital platforms and networking, in order for women to have better access to finance. She spoke about gender criteria in budget support and the recovery packages offered by the EU as a request for their approval, etc.

The next speaker was Mrs. Laura Turquet - UN Women Policy Advisor and vice-chair of the Research and Data Team. She elaborated on the "Feminist Plan" for sustainability and social justice. Mrs. Turquet emphasized that more than 54 milion women have lost their jobs in the last two years and that the care sector continues to remain highly unpaid. A serious issue is the fact that women remain underrepresented in workgroup teams all over the world, so a new social contract based on feminism, social justice and ecology is more than necessary.

The final speaker was Elisabeth Klatzer from Femme Fiscal in Austria, who spoke about Femme Fiscale's advocacy campaign "Mehr fur care". She also reflected on the three main investment packages that would bring a balance to the care sector: future education, the care package and the savings/solidarity package. Mrs. Klatzer said that more public money is essential for more staff, better working conditions, minimum income for categories in need, childcare and prevention of domestic violence. She also said that the pandemic caused some steps back in the care sector and criticized the EU's recovery plans, which are "gender-blind".

Click here to watch the full meeting.