A week since The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a pandemic, the social impact of the Corona Virus is hitting women hard, around the world. Globally, women make up 70 per cent of workers in the health and social sector, and they do three times as much unpaid care work at home as men. As first responders, frontline health workers, primary care givers at home and community mobilizers, women are at increased risk of exposure to the virus. They are also playing a disproportionate role in responding to the disease.

Marina Tabukashvili is Head of Georgia’s Taso Foundation, the National Women`s Fund and the Memory Research Center. She tells us why the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a visionary agenda to empower women and girls, was adopted in 1995, and discusses what prevents women from realizing their rights today.

The theme for International Women’s Day (8 March) 2020 is, I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights. The theme is aligned with UN Women’s new multigenerational campaign, Generation Equality, which marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.