UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on Wednesday called for more efforts to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on women during a virtual ministerial roundtable meeting on ensuring progress toward gender equality amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Ngcuka said the pandemic has led to the total collapse of tourism and this has had a significant impact on women, many of whom work in the industry. 

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"In many countries, women working in the tourism sector do not have enforceable contracts. So, their ability to bargain for any assistance as well as the interventions that are being brought in by their governments becomes complex," she explained. 

"And that too becomes our responsibility to stand up and to speak for these women as governments pronounce and put in place fiscal stimulus. We have to look out for women in the informal sector and in every aspect of the economy in order to make sure that women will also be able to recover."  

Ngcuka said she learned from previous pandemics that women never recover from the impact. Gatherings like the roundtable are about sharing experiences to make sure that history does not repeat itself, she stressed. 

The UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia estimates the pandemic will result in the loss of 1.7 million jobs in the region, approximately of which 700,000 are held by women. 

Many confirmed cases have been in the conflict-affected areas and countries like Iraq, Libya, Palestine, Syria and Yemen, and that too makes it even harder, Ngcuka said. 

"The economic fall-out of this crisis in every corner of the world can be felt. So today I hope that we can discuss not just the experiences of what we have done in our countries, but also what we can do together in order to mitigate the impact," she said.