Gender

The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened many of the challenges that mothers around the world face as the global health threat and resulting economic downturn have created a caregiving crisis that has disproportionately affected women and motherhood.  

The German parliamentary election campaign played out on the internet as never before. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, this was certainly necessary, but it brought with it all the evils we have previously seen in US election campaigns: disinformation campaigns and hate speech were used to discredit candidates, paid political online advertising and foreign influence circumvented basic democratic values. As a woman, Annalena Baerbock the Greens' candidate for Chancellor, was particularly affected. The elections have shown that what we need, in Germany and the EU, are better media skills for the population and clear rules for communication platforms.

In this time of triple crises, with intersecting impacts from the pandemic, the climate emergency, and persistent economic inequality, the global community and its leaders face a “Kairos moment” – a turning point at a critical time for action. The choice is whether to continue with failed policies that have brought the world to this perilous juncture or to retool global economies and systems. Imaginative and transformative approaches could address climate change and other environmental, health, and social threats, based on equity and justice, including gender-equitable access to sustainable finance.