Santé publique

Women face persistent structural challenges to decent jobs and economic independence. Now their livelihoods are even more vulnerable because of the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This vulnerability is due in part to a system of gender inequality that imposes unpaid care and domestic work on women through socially constructed gender norms, and that deprives women of effective universal protection systems. How can we cushion the adverse effects during the COVID-19 crisis while paving the way for structural transformation? This policy brief, part of UNDP's Development Future Series, examines the most at-risk elements of women's income-generation capacity, presents the possibilities and estimated costs of a temporary basic income (TBI) for women's economic security across the developing world, and discusses options for long-term commitments of economic protection and gender equality.

As in many countries worldwide, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its containment measures aggravated poverty in Bangladesh. Poor and vulnerable population groups were among the hardest hit. This brief draws on key findings from a UNDP Bangladesh survey on COVID-19 impacts during the pandemic’s first wave in early 2020. It covered 2,500 UNDP beneficiary households (HHs) across the country. In addition to severe income shocks, analysis reveals that the crisis amplified existing multidimensional vulnerabilities among HHs. Existing social safety net (SSN) programmes were inadequate to address different vulnerabilities. Against this backdrop, this brief underscores the need for Bangladesh’s continued attention on reforming its social protection system to make it more employment-focused, shock-responsive and universal in line with national priorities and for COVID recovery.

The direct impacts (loss of life) of COVID-19 have been global and well documented. Extreme poverty has risen for the first time in two decades and the impacts on livelihoods and vulnerable or marginalized populations have been distressing and often disproportionate. Most concerningly, countries with poor infrastructure, poor health and education services, and weak democratic institutions have been, arguably, the most vulnerable to both primary and secondary impacts of COVID-19. Within this framework, this brief explores the impact of COVID-19 on civic space in fragile contexts. Information from the UNDP Crisis Bureau’s Crisis Risk Dashboard (CRD) has been used to conduct the data analysis and visualizations presented below.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the Philippine economy in unprecedented ways. The country suffered a 9.6 percent contraction of its GDP in 2020, the worst on record in the post-World War II period. With the second highest cases in Southeast Asia, the country continues to struggle to contain the disease and remains under various degrees of community quarantine. This policy brief examines the socioeconomic impact of the pandemic across Philippine households using non-traditional datasets, particularly market research data showing fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) spending and mobility data. The paper observes differences in pandemic restrictions and recovery across different geographical areas in the country and in the pace of recovery across households belonging to different socioeconomic groups.

Solidarity has been a hallmark of the COVID-19 pandemic response in Paraguay. Many vulnerable communities have found ways to survive in the crisis context by mobilizing support from community and volunteer networks and civil society organizations, and also by accessing institutional forms of support, such as cash transfer programmes. How pervasive is collective action in vulnerable territories during the pandemic? Who engages in collective action, and to what end? And does it reduce vulnerability? This policy brief reports preliminary results of a survey on social capital in selected territories of Paraguay and its relationship with economic vulnerability during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The data presented provide insights into how trust and social capital have enabled collective action in vulnerable territories of Paraguay during the pandemic. This evidence can inform policy debates on how to increase resiliency and reduce vulnerability and allow us to identify, design and evaluate interventions to increase access to formal and informal types of aid in vulnerable territories.

The COVID-19 pandemic has threatened the livelihoods of the most vulnerable households in developing countries. In response, several countries have launched income support programs (ISPs). We evaluated the likely impact of these programs on the weekly growth rate of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths across 62 developing countries between January and December of 2020. Event study results suggest that implementation of ISPs reduced the weekly growth rate of cases and deaths. A heterogeneity analysis found that ISPs seemed effective in reducing the growth of cases and deaths related to COVID-19 in middle-income countries and the growth rate of cases in low-income countries as well as those countries with high informality in the labor market. Difference-in-difference estimates using the Callaway and Sant’Anna (2020) estimation strategy indicated that ISPs decreased the COVID-19 case growth rate by 12.1 percentage points and the death growth rate by 22.9 percentage points.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had a significant impact on humankind and on global commerce. Ports and port communities have experienced major changes to normal operating environments. The strategies used by ports to remain open and continue to facilitate sustainable economic development throughout the pandemic may provide useful lessons for policymakers, particularly in relation to the protocols and innovative measures that have been employed to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the movement of imports and exports as well as ships’ crew and essential port workers.

The pandemic has progressed differently across the world. Using monthly data on COVID-19 cases and fatalities, we evaluate whether income inequality is an important factor in explaining cross-country differences in the spread and mortality of the virus. The results show that income inequality is positively correlated with the number of COVID-19 cases. Higher income inequality is associated with a more rapid spread of the virus and an increase in the number of cases, indirectly increasing mortality rates as well. Also, higher levels of inequality are associated with reduced effectiveness of social distancing measures in containing new infections. Thus, elevated inequalities place societies in a more vulnerable position to confront this pandemic, and more unequal countries would need more robust public responses to contain the spread of the virus.

Building on data from the Europe and Central Asia and Asia-Pacific regions, this brief argues that the time to invest in the care economy is now. Such investment helps advance multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by increasing women’s labour force participation and productivity, professionalizing the care sector and generating decent work for men and women, reducing gender inequalities in care work and ultimately ensuring inclusive and resilient growth. The paper offers recommendations based on emerging research and new policy tools for strengthening public policies and workplace measures to recognize and redistribute unpaid care work and build a care economy as a cornerstone of social and economic recovery.

This report provides an assessment of the social and economic impact and efficacy of post Dorian and COVID support programmes on micro, small and mid-sized enterprises in Grand Bahama and Abaco, as well as Recommendations for policy development to improve resiliency, promote social and economic recovery and mitigate the impact of future disaster on MSMES. This report links the available institutional research on the distinct and separate impacts of Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19 with new data collected from an online survey created on the KOBO Humanitarian platform in collaboration with UNDP SURGE Data Hub, Country Support Management Team of the UNDP Crisis Bureau. The survey, launched from November 2020 to February 2021 and promoted via radio and social media, received 486 responses from affected owners of MSMEs in Grand Bahama and Abaco, some of whom had been displaced because of the storm. The respondents represent almost 14 percent of all registered MSMEs on the islands prior to Hurricane Dorian.