APWLD Feminist Response to COVID-19

APWLD stands in solidarity with the people in Asia and the Pacific and across the globe who are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and other interconnected crises. Women in all their diversities are bearing the brunt of this crisis as they face multiple and intersecting discrimination, exclusion and violence. It is evident that the effects of this public health crisis are leading to — and was brought by — the interconnected economic, social and political crises, and the most marginalised communities are hit the hardest. Read our statement COVID-19 Highlights the Failure of Neoliberal Capitalism: We Need Feminist Global Solidarity.

 As a membership-driven feminist network, APWLD is developing our own feminist responses with guidance from members and partners, including the following: 

Documenting diverse feminist realities of issues and resistance in the times of COVID-19

Our members have been leading local and national responses, and we plan to deepen our efforts in participatory documentation to generate feminist and gender-responsive policy recommendations based on the realities and demands of women and their communities, in areas including domestic violence, care work, public services, food security, etc. 

We have also been amplifying grassroots voices through collecting and publishing illustrated stories from women. 

Creating and participating in advocacy spaces

With our experience in holding consultations with UN mandates and our longstanding relationship with the UN Special Procedures, we initiated several online consultations with APWLD members and partners to share direct experiences of the impact of the pandemic on women in the region. We have also been actively contributing to the feminist collective on COVID-19 in drafting feminist principles on COVID response, as well as collating information and resources on the dedicated website.

We also made a submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Impact of COVID-19 on Indigenous Peoples.

Amplifying grassroots voices through communications and publications

A working group of APWLD members has been formed on feminist organising to encourage documentation, and collectively adapt ways of feminist organising and mobilising in the context of COVID-19. 

 Monitoring and analysing government policy responses

A working group of APWLD members has been set up to:

  1. monitor the policy responses from countries across the region as well as global policy-making bodies;
  2. compare and analyse their impacts on women; and
  3. provide region-level evaluations and comparisons that will inform members’ advocacy work.

APWLD will update this page regularly to include any future COVID-19 related activities and advocacy. For any queries, recommendations, or members’ inputs, please contact Ya Gan, COVID-19 Coordinator at covid19@apwld.org.