Crisis response

The Icelandic Prime Minister, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, participated in a UN conference on the impact of COVID-19 on gender equality and the status of women, Fréttablaðið reports. She highlighted the increased risk of domestic violence, the pivotal role women play in the healthcare system and the additional economic and social pressures women are facing during the pandemic.

The new virtual parliament, which started this week, could have unintended positive consequences for achieving gender equality in politics. Parliament was created by men, for men. The procedures, the structure, the culture – all created without a thought that one day, women would be making legislation too.

Women are on the frontline in the battle against the coronavirus, says Dr. Thoraya Obaid, chair of Women 20, an official G20 engagement group.

“It is important that G20 leaders explicitly discuss and recognize the role women are playing in fighting the pandemic, and the impact the fight has on them as health care system users,” Obaid told Arab News on Thursday.

From patrolling checkpoints to answering emergency calls, women serving in security sector agencies continue to undertake vital work across Jordan alongside their male colleagues, supporting citizens and carefully applying critical mitigation measures against the spread of COVID-19.

By Jennifer Hassan and Siobhán O'Grady,

Silveria Jacobs is not messing around.

When coronavirus cases started increasing in the Caribbean nation of Sint Maarten, the 51-year-old prime minister delivered blunt instructions.

South Korea’s first feminist party is set to launch a political school to train aspiring female candidates, as it vowed to fight on after failing to win a seat in national elections.

The Women’s Party was unsuccessful in its attempts to win four parliamentary seats in the April 15 poll, despite a growing feminism movement in the socially conservative nation.