Assessing the lights and shadows of COVID-19: A gender analysis of pandemic-related impacts on women and girls in Europe and Central Asia

The COVID-19 pandemic and measures taken to address it, have exacerbated pre-existing inequalities and widened gender gaps in every sphere. UN Women has been documenting the gendered impacts of the pandemic through consultations with experts from institutional mechanisms for gender equality and women’s civil society organizations (CSOs), and a series of rapid gender assessments of the situation of women and men in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region. At this critical juncture, this gender analysis identifies the most significant impacts of COVID-19 on gender equality in the region in order to inform gender-sensitive national response, recovery, planning and investment. It examines the impacts in five areas that were identified as priorities for ECA during the 2019 Regional Review Meeting on implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (Beijing+25). Key actions for sustainable recovery are also presented, with detailed recommendations.