NEW YORK — UN Women Deputy Executive Director Anita Bhatia recently posed a scenario that might be familiar to some 11 million families whose daughters might not return to school this year. There’s one computer at home. Who is getting it to use for online school, the brother or the sister?
“Typically it's going to be the brother, because the girl is looked upon as household help. It's always the girls’ education that suffers. Investing in girls’ education is probably the single best development investment that you can make, because when you educate a girl, you change her life, her family's life, her community's life,” Bhatia said in an interview with Devex.
UN Women has estimated that 47 million will slip into poverty in just one year as a result of the pandemic. A rise in child marriage, a spike in violence against women, loss of education, and income for girls and women can all be traced to the economic crises onset by the pandemic. But few governments are considering stimulus packages with gender lenses.
About the author
Amy Liebermanamylieberman
Amy Lieberman is the U.N. Correspondent for Devex. She covers the United Nations and reports on global development and politics. Amy previously worked as a freelance reporter, covering the environment, human rights, immigration, and health across the U.S. and in more than 10 countries, including Colombia, Mexico, Nepal, and Cambodia. Her coverage has appeared in the Guardian, the Atlantic, Slate, and the Los Angeles Times. A native New Yorker, Amy received her master’s degree in politics and government from Columbia’s School of Journalism.
