(more than 60 per cent) have national action plans to implement UNSCR 1325.76 Several of
the national action plans include provisions for gender-sensitive early warning systems, which
can facilitate rapid and effective responses to crises, and some have explicit provisions for
“gendered responses to natural or man-made disasters” (these are Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Kyrgyzstan and Serbia).77
Furthermore, women’s organizations from 17 countries/territories in the OSCE region reported
that “none of the countries in the sub-region called for inputs from civil society in drawing up
their national pandemic plans.”78
The overall result has been a largely gender-blind response and sets of emergency measures
that have overlooked women’s experiences, needs and priorities. To the extent that women
in particularly vulnerable situations are often invisible to policymakers, they have remained
outside of discussions of how to respond to the pandemic.
Impact on Women” May, 2020, <https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=a561c
c61-04be-42f6-8461-dd90978f3dd2>; Italy’s 20-member governmental advisory committee was convened without
any women, D’Emilio, F., “Women Demand Voice in Italy Virus Response Dominated by Men”, Associated Press, 7 May
2020, <https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/women-demand-voice-in-italy-virus-response-dominated-bymen-1.4928601>; In Uzbekistan, the Republican Commission that is responsible for preparing measures to prevent
the spread of the coronavirus was formed with only one women among its 25 members. There are now two members – both government ministers, see (Распоряжение Президента Республики Узбекистан об образовании
специальной республиканской комиссии по подготовке программы мер по предупрежде��ию завоза
и распространения нового типа коронавируса в республике узбекистан [Order of the President of the
Republic of Uzbekistan on the Formation of the Special Republican Commission for the Preparation of the Program
of Measures to Prevent the Import and Spread of a new type of Coronavirus in the Republic of Uzbekistan], <https://
lex.uz/docs/4720408>; In Kyrgyzstan, men make up 80 per cent of those in the commandant’s office and republican headquarters of the coronavirus response, see: UN Women, “Gender Assessment in Kyrgyzstan Reveals
Concerning Results about the Impact of COVID-19 on Women”, 19 June 2020, <https://eca.unwomen.org/en/news/
stories/2020/6/press-release-gender-assessment-in-kyrgyzstan-reveals-concerning-results>.
76 OSCE, Implementing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in the OSCE Region, (Vienna: OSCE 2020), p. 3,
<https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/3/4/444577.pdf>.
77 Ibid., pp. 23, 58.
78 The countries are in Europe and Central Asia. Kosovo is also included. See: UN Women, Voices of Women’s
Organisations on COVID-19, April 2020 Sub-regional Consultations”, op. cit. note 61, p. 3. [OSCE disclaimer: “Any reference to Kosovo, whether to the territory, its institutions, or population, is to be understood in full compliance with United
Nations Security Council Resolution 1244”].
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