women from ethnic minority groups and women with disabilities (as of June 2020) were incrementally higher than for women overall, and considerably higher than for men overall.183 Women’s ability to exercise their right to work (to return to jobs or find new employment) also hinges on the lifting of other emergency measures, namely the reopening of childcare facilities and schools (a topic that is discussed in a separate section of this publication). It should be noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has been enormous in its scale and impact on almost all sectors of the economy. Other emergencies may entail less drastic closures of workplaces. Further, men make up the majority of workers in sectors, such as manufacturing and construction, in which social distancing and working from home are often not possible, although these are also sectors that have been prioritized for reopening and recovery measures in the COVID-19 health crisis.184 In some OSCE participating States (that also have pronounced labour market segregation and relatively low female participation in the workforce),185 overall unemployment rates have been slightly higher for men than women as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. • When emergency measures do not consider diverse types of work, women can be left unprotected. In general, women are more likely to work in “vulnerable” jobs, such as lowskilled, part-time or in flexible arrangements (including seasonal agricultural work, homebased work or self-employment) that can be combined with childcare, but which are also generally characterized by low pay, job insecurity and lack of social protections (such as paid sick leave). Many women work in informal employment, especially migrant women and women in rural areas. Female entrepreneurs are more likely to work as sole traders, to operate in the informal sector and to be in traditional “female” sectors (such as those that are mentioned above). During the COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, 25 per cent of self-employed women surveyed in Europe and Central Asia had lost their jobs (compared to 20 per cent of self-employed men).186 This situation raises issues about whether social protection and financial support schemes adopted to address the impact of emergency measures, and that do not recognize the diverse working arrangements of women or are based on time in formal employment, uninterrupted work history or average salary, have discriminatory impacts on women. 183 National Women’s Law Center, “June Brings 2.9 Million Women’s Jobs Back, Many of Which Are at Risk of Being Lost Again”, Fact Sheet, July 2020, p. 2, <https://nwlc-ciw49tixgw5lbab.stackpathdns.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/june-jobs-fs-1.pdf>. 184 For instance, the Spanish government permitted non-essential workers in factories and construction to return to work in mid-April 2020. Jones, S., “Spain to Begin Return to Work Despite Fears of Resurgence”, The Guardian website, 11 April 2020, <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/11/ spain-to-begin-return-to-work-despite-fears-of-resurgence>. 185 For instance in Albania. See: UN Women Albania, “Press release: COVID-19 Is Taking a Higher Toll on Women – Shows UN Women Albania Rapid Assessment”, 10 July 2020, <https://albania.unwomen.org/ en/news-and-events/stories/2020/07/covid-19-is-taking-a-higher-toll-on-women-shows-unwomen-albania-rapid-assessment>; and Turkey. See: UN Women Turkey Office, “The Economic and Social Impact of COVID-19 on Women and Men, Rapid Gender Assessment of COVID-19 Implications in Turkey”, 2020, p. 20, <https://eca.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2020/06/ the-impact-of-covid19-on-women-and-men-rapid-gender-assessment-of-covid19-implications-in-turkey>. 186 The data refer to ten European and Central Asian countries. UN Women, “The Impact of Covid-19 on Women’s and Men’s Lives and Livelihoods in Europe and Central Asia: Preliminary Results from a Rapid Gender Assessment”, op. cit., note 97, p. 15. 52