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Can the Generation Equality Forum ensure two basic rights for women: The right to safety and peace at home and to decent work outside of it?

The recently concluded Generation Equality Forum has once again pinned the focus on gender equality and how far we are from achieving it in most parts of the world. A global gathering for gender equality the Forum is traditionally convened by UN Women once every five years with the objective of mainstreaming gender equality and female solidarity in a host of areas including the economy education employment health environment sports the media and human rights.

This year’s Forum co-chaired by France and Mexico kicked off in Mexico City on March 29 and culminated in Paris on July 2 with 85 countries and 10000 delegates coming together through a mix of physical and digital participation. The high-profile event was addressed and attended by several international dignitaries including the co-hosts President of France Emmanuel Macron and Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Notable speakers at the event included Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris Nobel laureate Nadia Murad UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

Using as a springboard the Beijing Declaration of 1995 which was released at the Fourth World Conference on Women held there the 2021 Forum too laid down a list of bold commitments and funding targets in a five-year action plan for accelerating gender equalityby 2026. However what distinguishes the 2021 Forum from the one in 1995 is unquestionably the Coronavirus pandemic that has radically changed the world and gender equations in it.

Realising the adverse impact of Covid-19 on women and girls the Mexico-Paris Forum has under-written a whopping amount of nearly $40 billion in confirmed investments in women-centric policies globally including $21 billion by governments and public sector institutions $17.5 billion by the private sector and philanthropists and $1.3 billion by UN entities and international bodies. Among the major thrust areas of the 2021 Forum agenda are the revival of employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for the female workforce to counter the mass unemployment caused by the Covid-induced lockdowns support for women-owned and women-led businesses through 2025 particularly in the tech start-up and e-commerce sectors and legislative reforms to enhance female empowerment.

Feminists may perceive these heart-warming goals of the Generation Equality Forum as a balm for all wounds. However we need to do a deeper analysis to ascertain how muchthese promises on paper will actually translate into action on the ground. The Beijing Declaration too had laid out a new vision and new mission to create a world that would honour respect and reward women. But more than 25 years later not much seems to have changed as globally women are still grappling with the multiple challenges of poverty unemployment and violence.

To put matters into perspective as per data from the World Economic Forum-Global Gender Gap Report 2020 and Women’s Representation in Society UN Women 75 per cent of the seats in parliaments in the world are still held by men and merely 6.6 per cent of CEOs across global corporates are women. Further compared to men women are 24 per cent more likely to lose their  jobs and are 10 per cent less likely than men to have internet access especially during the pandemic. It is posited that with such persistent discrimination it will take 257 years to close the gender gap in economic participation and opportunity and 94.5 years to bridge this gap in political empowerment notwithstanding all the money and succour pledged by the Generation Equality Forum. 

Although feminists have been confronting these issues for years 2021 represents a critical inflection point in history with Covid-19 exacerbating all outcomes for gender equality. And these outcomes seem equally stark if contextualised for India. There was a nearly 78 per cent rise in reports of domestic violence received by the National Commission for Women (NCW) from 2960 in 2019 to 5297 in 2020 and 1463 cases have been reported between January and March 2021 alone. “These cases of domestic violence are likely the result of increased stress and anxiety financial tensions and lack of social and emotional support for families in COVID times” says NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma. Activists in fact define this alarming recent rise in domestic violence as “a pandemic within a pandemic”.

An assessment of household-level panel data from the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) suggests that increased domestic violence against women could be a direct result of their lack of economic empowerment. The IHDS a nationally representative survey covering 41554 households in 1503 villages and 971 urban neighbourhoods across India was jointly conducted by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and University of Maryland USA in two waves in 2004-05 and 2011-12 with a third wave planned soon.

The IHDS asks eligible ever-married women whether “in your community it is usual for husbands to beat their wives” for several possible reasons including leaving home without notifying him failing to pay a dowry neglecting household responsibilities not cooking meals that are up to standard and having extramarital affairs. The results consistently show that women’s empowerment through employment and earnings lowers the risk of domestic violence and therefore denial of autonomy is in itself one of the central problems for Indian women.

On the employment front too IHDS finds that the reported decline in female workforce participation in India over the past few years stems from the lack of appropriate job opportunities for women. Data from the National Sample Survey (NSS) indicate that despite a rise in the number of women acquiring higher education female employment figures declined from 34.1 per cent in 1999-2000 to 27.2 per cent in 2011-12. This decline has been attributed to various factors including lack of employment security for women the disproportionate burden of household chores borne by them and disparity in wages versus men.

Professor Sonalde Desai who leads the IHDS however avers that India can combat its low female work participation rates through the dual strategy of creating new jobs for women and offering them greater access to existing jobs-a tall task especially due to widespread unemployment caused by the Covid situation. However it is still feasible through the implementation of public policies such as improvement in transportation facilities and greater provision of work opportunities under social security programmes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). More importantly both IHDS and NSS find a high degree of willingness to work among women-IHDS recorded such willingness among 65 per cent of its unemployed women respondents. So the will is there but how do we find the way?

Going forward it remains to be seen if the ambitious agenda of the Generation Equality Forum can ensure the two basic rights for women-the right to safety and peace at home and the right to decent work outside it.

(The writer Anupma Mehta is Editor at the National Council of Applied Economic Research. The views expressed are personal.)

The evaluation criteria proposed by CBSE is flexible enough to accommodate concerns of students.

With the central government deciding to cancel the Class XII examinations a majority of state education boards and stakeholders welcomed the move in view of the safety of students and teachers. However the cancellation policy also introduced uncertainty on how students are going to be evaluated and how college admissions will take place.

The recent announcement by the CBSE on the evaluation criteria has brought clarity on this issue. Students will be evaluated based on their performances in Classes X XI and XII using weights of 40-30-30 — 40 per cent of the marks will be based on all or either of the unit Class XII tests mid-terms or pre-board exams 30 per cent will be based on the theory component of the Class XI final exam and the remaining 30 per cent will be based on average theory component of best three performing subjects out of the main five of Class X. This formula will be used to compute the theory marks for students which will be then added to marks scored in internal assessments and practical during Class XII to be calculated according to the existing policies.

The announcement is bound to evoke mixed reactions. Online examinations could have been one option but this approach is fraught with infrastructural challenges. There is the rural-urban divide and the gender and socio-economic digital divide in terms of lack of access to digital devices. Limited access to internet connectivity and frequent power failures have been the most commonly cited barriers in online education.

Given the strict marking followed in Class XI evaluations or lax attitude of students some might be of the view that the new method should have considered only classes X and XII marks as both come under the purview of board examinations. But here also one has to consider that subjects taught in class XI are equally important as it builds the basis for class XII subjects. But yes instead of giving 30 per cent weightage to Class XI theory subjects it could have been slightly lower giving more weightage to either Class X or XII assessments as students take these two years more seriously.

Students who have worked hard throughout the academic session of class XII might feel a bit unconvinced with this decision as they would have preferred a formula based more on internal evaluations as conducted by schools including the pre-board results and the practical exams. But again that criteria would have been completely unfair towards those students whose families were affected due to pandemic and were not in the position to perform well in either of their internal exams pre-boards practical during the academic session but might otherwise be bright students.

It was important to balance the situation of students falling in different categories as ignoring any one of these might pose serious and long-lasting consequences on their higher education and career prospects. In the current environment this formula is certainly the best bet for this academic year as college admissions are around the corner not to be delayed further.

The new formula while clearly communicating the message that students who have studied hard throughout these years are the most deserving has also inbuilt flexibility to increase the student’s satisfaction. For the class X component the average scores of the theory marks for the best three main subjects will be considered which is likely to increase their average score for class X than what they might have been if scored based on five subjects. For class XII the evaluation will be based on the performance in either one or more unit tests mid-terms or pre-board theory exams left to the discretion of the school’s result committee. Certainly schools are likely to pick those options in which their students performed better. This is also likely to benefit students. Moreover it has been announced that if students are not satisfied with calculated scores then they can appear later for physical exams that will be conducted when the situation normalises. Those scores will then be considered as the final ones.

Students who fall short in one subject will be placed in the “compartment” category and will be given a chance to appear for exams to clear that subject. Those who fall short in more than one subject will be placed in the “essential repeat” category. To avoid inter-school variations in the assessment of internal examinations/unit test etc. a moderation policy has also been introduced so that no students remain disadvantaged due to differences in schools internal evaluation criteria. With so many options available within one formula this is certainly the most effective evaluation approach in the current situation when the safety of students and college admissions are of utmost priority.

While the formulaic based examination system helps us stem the immediate crisis we need to move towards an evaluation system that tests a student’s knowledge the understanding of concepts and applications in real life. It should help them transition to the world of higher studies and work imbibe cognitive socio-emotional and vocational skills. The transformation of the mainstream Indian education system is yet to begin.

The United Nations’ “Policy Brief: The impact of Covid-19 on children” dated April 15 2020 was convinced that “Children are not the face of this pandemic.” This was also evident in India when the ‘first wave’ of Covid-19 hit the country. Scientists and experts were convinced that children were less susceptible as compared to adults of advanced age or those with co-morbid conditions.

But as India is going through the somewhat now abated ‘second wave’ of Covid-19 experts are of the opinion that whenever the ‘third wave’ approach it will witness a major transformation when more and more children will be also be impacted though the severity of the virus on the children is still not clear.

We are at a stage when it became more and more obvious that persons across all age groups are equally susceptible. Specific reasons are unclear. Mutations variants and strains of the virus has created havoc and it seems unsurmountable at the moment for the health authorities.

It is often said that Indians develop chronic diseases at a younger age which raises their risk of severe disease and death. That if the vulnerability of children to the virus would characterise the ‘third wave’ then it will require a re-look at the strategies and protocol in Covid-19 management. Equally critical is also the need to pay special and adequate attention to children with chronic co-morbid and other under-lying conditions.

Empirical evidence

High rate of Covid-19 fatalities of persons with existing chronic conditions or compromised immune systems are being observed not only in India but across the world. Taking care of chronic conditions is critical as Covid-19 raises the risk for people with such underlying medical issues.

There is no publicly available information on the extent of children with chronic ailments infected by Covid-19 virus. But it would be of interest to wade through the available information and data on children with chronic ailments in India to understand how and where we are placed. 

We analysed the data of the 75th Round of the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) on “Household Social Consumption: Health 2017-18” to appreciate the issue at hand. According to this Survey approximately 3.1 percent of all persons with chronic ailments are children below 18 years of age and it is almost evenly distributed across this age group. Noteworthy is also the fact that rural areas accounted for 78 percent of children with chronic ailments.

Interestingly ten States [viz. West Bengal (26.9%) Uttar Pradesh (16.1%) Kerala (10.7%) Rajasthan (10%) Orissa (5.7%) Maharashtra (5.3%) Bihar (4.5%) Telengana (3.3%) Andhra Pradesh (2.9%) and Madhya Pradesh (2.7%)] accounted for 88 percent of children with chronic ailments. In these States too the rural areas accounted for the larger share of such children except in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. We depicted this in the form of graphical representation below.

Children with chronic ailments will present a different sets of vaccination issues whenever vaccination is open for children. Moreover these children faced higher risk of being infected especially from asymptomatic adults. Quarantine would be beset with various obstacles and challenges.

Adhering to Covid-appropriate behaviour would be easier said than done for such children. These factors are likely to increase the risk of Covid-19 related severe morbidity and mortality amongst children with chronic ailments. It present before us a unique and complex Covid-19 management.

Health infrastructure and manpower in urban areas have already been overwhelmed not only with the increasing number of Covid-19 related cases in the urban areas itself but also the inflow of such patients from the rural areas. In view of the fact that a large number of children with chronic ailments resides in the rural areas it is going to present substantial challenges to the already inadequate healthcare resources.

No doubt children with chronic ailments will require a different set of approach in this pandemic but identifying such children is the starting point. States (especially in the ten major States) need to put in place a system to identify and assess risk across age and gender of children with chronic ailments. It then need to work out appropriate and adequate strategies to deal with as and when these children happen to contract Covid-19 virus.

Protocol for testing children

Protocols on Covid-19 testing of children with chronic ailments need to be developed in a manner that such children should not be made to travel far from their place of residence for Covid-19 related treatment or vaccination. This will reduce the discomfort and jeopardize their health further.

Regular monitoring the health status of children with chronic ailments can provide quick and timely response in case of any emergencies. ASHA ANM community health workers etc can be made aware of the best practices and trained accordingly.

Ramping up of health resources especially in rural areas is sine qua non for riding the ‘third wave’ to ensure minimization of severity and mortality and this is all the more relevant and critical for children with existing chronic ailments.

Parallel to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare’s “Protocol for Management of Covid-19 in the Paediatric Age Group” a separate comprehensive and specific protocol should be formulated for children with chronic ailments.

Adequate timely and effective communication should be disseminated through visual and print media to create awareness amongst the general public and health workers on the steps to shield protect and care for children with chronic ailments with special focus and emphasis on Covid-19 pandemic.

The chronic health conditions of children in India is a matter of concern and their vulnerability to Covid-19 cannot be ruled out. Focused pragmatic targeted robust and coordinated policy especially in those States which have a considerable section of children with chronic ailments need to be worked out immediately to face the impending ‘third wave’ of Covid-19.

Dr Palash Baruah is Senior Research Analyst National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) New Delhi; DL Wankhar is retired Indian Economic Service Officer. Views are personal