CARE and the International Rescue Committee have announced a $5 million commitment from Giving Pledger Sheryl Sandberg and her fiancé, Tom Bernthal, to strengthen efforts to support women and girls impacted by COVID-19.
According to the CARE and IRC policy brief Global Rapid Gender Analysis (20 pages, PDF), the pandemic is having a disproportionate effect on women and girls, especially those living in poverty, in conflict settings, and in refugee camps. Awarded through the Sheryl Sandberg and Dave Goldberg Family Fund, the funds will support efforts to help women and girls in the poorest and most fragile countries, including efforts to prevent and reduce gender-based violence; provide access to safe, quality healthcare; and put women in leadership roles as economic rebuilding begins.
“Women and girls are on the frontlines of this epidemic,” said Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, who joined the Giving Pledge in 2014. “They’re more vulnerable to disease and poverty. And they’re essential to delivering health care worldwide and keeping families nourished, educated, and healthy. So supporting them is key to minimizing the harm caused by this pandemic and protecting communities in the long run. We must do all we can to keep women and girls safe and well.”
“From CARE’s seventy-five years of humanitarian response work, we know that disasters like this pandemic disproportionally affect the vulnerable,” said CARE president and CEO Michelle Nunn. “We will see this with COVID-19 as well, in developing countries and with women and girls. In communities around the world, where women are the primary caregivers at home and on the frontlines of healthcare in their communities, we need to ensure that women are protected and empowered as workers and leaders in the response. This gift from Sheryl and Tom will do just that by bolstering CARE’s response in sixty-three countries.”
Source:PND
