Canada’s next government needs to plan for and drive a gender-just recovery

After the 2021 federal election, without a doubt, pandemic recovery will keep the incoming resident of 24 Sussex Drive awake at night. But will Canada's leader recognize that the pandemic recovery will depend on women continuing to lead in communities everywhere around the world, and in turn, prioritize Canadian investments that advance women's leadership, health, and dignified livelihoods? Here in Canada and around the world, all women—especially women from marginalized groups—have been disproportionately impacted by the compounding crises of COVID-19, climate change, conflict, gender-based violence, and unpaid care work. Our collective front line is predominantly women, which includes first responders, providers, caretakers, activists, and leaders. We know that when women have the opportunity to lead, they achieve great things. But too often, their voices are absent from decision-making. We leave too many obstacles in the way. Although women comprise 70 per cent of global frontline health workers, they are underrepresented at senior levels and excluded from decision-making spaces, holding only a quarter of leadership roles. What’s more, nearly half of women’s estimated US $3-trillion contributions to global health work are unpaid and unrecognized. Barbara Grantham is CARE Canada's President and CEO. Photograph courtesy of CARE Canada The World Health Organization projected in their report, Delivered by women, led by men: A gender and equity analysis of the global health and social workforce, that rising health care demands and changing demographics will necessitate the creation of 40 million new jobs by 2030 in the global health and social sector. In turn, an estimated 18 million new health workers, primarily in low- and middle-income countries, are required to reach the target under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of universal health coverage and health for all by 2030. The disparity between health worker supply and demand is a cause for concern. It is also a potential opportunity. An investment now in the leadership and equal pay of women frontline health workers is one that will pay dividends, now, and into the future. When women frontline health workers are included in decision-making and able to help shape solutions to the challenges of their communities, patient outcomes improve, life expectancies increase, and a culture of innovation is created which leads to faster crisis responses. Conversely, failure to invest in these areas leads to a continued undermining of women’s livelihoods (and therefore their contributions to the overall economy), constrained progress on gender justice, and negative impacts on the delivery of quality health care. Despite the obstacles they face, women worldwide, and especially those in humanitarian settings, are resourceful leaders, driving innovation to support their families and communities—whether in health, humanitarian response, community organizing, or business. Entrepreneurship is empowering, and CARE has seen a 33 per cent increase in women taking up leadership positions within their communities as part of CARE’s women in enterprise program which ran in Guatemala, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Peru, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, and Yemen. The program, funded by the H&M Foundation, worked with women entrepreneurs to develop business models, improve access to funds, and provide skills training that took women from survival to success. Entrepreneurship can offer a clear path out of poverty, and when given better access to finance and capital, women are strong savers and borrowers. Women represent 31 to 38 per cent of small and mid-size enterprises in emerging markets, and this space constitutes a significant opportunity for economic growth. Women-led enterprises have a positive impact on their local communities by employing other women who are then able to lift themselves and their families out of poverty as a consequence of improved economic opportunity and access to dignified work. This progress–and decades of advances in gender equality–is now under threat. In December 2019, the World Economic Forum predicted that it would take 257 years to close the economic gender gap. Today, it would take 267.6 years. We are going in the wrong direction. Burdened with compounding systemic inequalities, women and girls are most affected by crises, and yet they continue to lead to the benefit of entire communities. Supporting women's leadership should be a pillar of international COVID-19 economic recovery responses. With the proper support and recognition, women will continue to offer a critical contribution to community resilience and economic recovery during and after this crisis. In CARE’s experience, this means supporting locally-led and women-led initiatives and responses with long-term, flexible funding reaching local women-led and women’s rights organizations. Despite most often being first responders to crises in their communities, women-led and women’s rights organizations receive less than one percent of official development assistance funding. With the loss of funding and programs disrupted due to the impacts of COVID-19, many of these organizations, small and large, are at risk. Critics may point to the many domestic issues and commitments to contend with now and argue that we cannot afford to invest in women’s rights and leadership abroad. The reality is that we cannot afford to not make these investments. To deliver transformative change, address inequality globally, and create a better and more equal world for us all, we must invest in women's leadership, health, and dignified livelihoods. The outcome of the 2021 federal election presents an opportunity for leaders to take meaningful, lasting action by leveraging Canadian resources to invest in women’s leadership—here in Canada and with women’s rights and women-led organizations the world over. Barbara Grantham is CARE Canada's President and CEO The Hill Times