 Good morning Excellencies distinguished delegates ladies gentlemen No need to adjust your screens or There's nothing wrong with your eyesides. I am not the IRM DDG Laura Thompson our DDG is unfortunately unable to attend the session today So I have the pleasure to be the moderator of this session this morning. My name is Jacqueline Vegas I'm the Migration Health Director at IOM here in Geneva and it's a pleasure to welcome you To this session on the role of women in the COVID-19 response and recovery After having discussed yesterday the implications of the pandemic for migration and its future and the protection challenges Arising for the most vulnerable populations today. We will start with a discussion on the role of women in the COVID-19 response and recovery efforts Well, there is evidence that the rate that the death rate among infected individuals is higher for men than for women The impacts of the pandemic appear to be exacerbated for women and girls across every sector From health to the economy from security to social protection and further amplified in context of fragility conflict and emergencies Nevertheless women are not only vulnerable They are they have been the driving force behind the health offered Worldwide with many of the health workers and other personnel taking care of sick people being often migrant women Building on previous discussions on the key role of migrant women at the IDM and in other fora This panel will invite key perspectives from governments UN organizations and youth organizations on the Implications of the pandemic for women and girls the challenges They are exposed to but also on their stories of empowerment and contribution to the response and recovery efforts Doing this panel. We will also learn the conclusions and recommendations of the side event organized ahead of this IDM by IOM UN partners and member states on the importance of Ensuring universal health coverage for all migrant women and girls Doing the next two hours, we will try to address some of the following questions Which particular vulnerabilities has COVID revealed or exacerbated for migrant women and girls How can we include better? young migrant women and girls in the recovery efforts from both the perspective of addressing their challenges But also from the perspective of considering their skills and contribution to health and socioeconomic responses The essential role that women are playing in the response and recovery not only as fault line health care workers But but also other essential workers must be emphasized With the importance of migrant health care workers around the world that has been highlighted with the pandemic How can governments better ensure protection for these individuals and their vulnerabilities? I Would like to invite the speakers present with me on the podium as Well as those connected online from various parts of the world Asia Africa Latin America and you all To share views challenges and best practices in promoting immediate responses and for longer term Recovery efforts that consider not only the specific vulnerabilities of migrant women and girls But also their strengths and skills. I would like to now start introducing the panelists we have five panelists this morning Kitlan Kabua Ministry of Education Sports and Training Republic of Marshall Islands Maya Mores be president of National Council of Women in Egypt, so Zaniak of deputy director General Derby show Christine Lowe director UN women liaison office in Geneva and Maria Corina Musco Storo UN major group for children and youth and co-founder and director of Venezuelans Okay Let's start with the first speaker and I have the pleasure to welcome today her Excellency Kitlan Kabua Minister of Education Sports and Training Republic of Marshall Islands One of the ten elected ministers in the presidential cabinet Her Excellency is the youngest MP elected at the age of 28 and is one of two females in the predominantly male parliament from August 2018 Until her recent election Miss Kabua worked as the a Bay project representative of on face two of the World Bank funded Pacific resilience program a Series of projects to strengthen Pacific Island countries resilience to natural disaster and climate change Irem has a long-standing partnership and collaboration with the ministry and this includes over seven years of working to implement the cadre, which is the climate change adaption and Disaster risk reduction education project This includes hands-on locally developed curriculum with students support to the schools to develop school emergency management plans and work with the communities of the schools to establish Disaster committees to organize trainings on the cadre curriculum also human trafficking and other topics I'm glad to welcome you to this session Miss Kabua and I appreciate very much your willingness to gain To join this discussion at such late hour in your day. You have the floor. Thank you Sorry, I just heard that our first speaker is not yet online, so I'm very sorry about this I will right away move on to introduce the second speaker who will now be the first speaker and I would like to introduce Dr Maya Morsi president of Egypt's National Council for Women since her election in 2016 as the third and the youngest president since the council was established in 2000 Dr. Morsi was awarded the woman of the decade in public life and empowerment in 2018 and the national award of one of the hundred most influential women in Egypt in 2016 Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in the Arab Republic of Egypt, Dr. Maya Morsi was activated has activated sorry the National Council for Women and played a vital role in unfolding concrete plans aimed at ensuring women's protection against the socio-economic and psychological repercussions of the pandemic in the country The council recovery response and social protection measures have been supported by IOM Egypt since the early stages of Implementation and in addition I am Egypt was nominated in June 2020 co-chair of the UN women results group with UN women Welcome, Dr. Morsi and we look forward to hearing from you on the role of Egyptian and migrant women in the fight against the pandemic Including the consequences on their life and how the government supported them. The floor is yours. Thank you Good morning, madam chair. It's a pleasure to be with you today and Thank you very much for having women as a core and Important pillar in your discussion Egypt drafted the response on women's situation during COVID has has specific Steps that we have been taken since the 30th of March Egypt had launched the first globally Concept note or policy note on the response measures to the situation And this was at that time. We did not have any guidance We did not have international measures and everyone was in in studying learning and studying But with a political will in Egypt presidential political will we have the direction to to have to see and to study where Women would be affected how we can support them from the beginning of the pandemic and how we can protect them on the long run as well And the new normal to be studied in With effect to women Egypt has also launched the policy tracker with the government and we had done several edition iterations and the fourth iteration was launched in 30th of June why we said this because if we have a Policy note we have a policy tracker. We have guidance on the Interventions with the government. This would help the government to take the right decision and Also on international level Egypt had led the process of developing and submitting a draft resolution with Algeria, China Saudi Arabia Zambia Entitled strengthening national and international rapid response to the impact of COVID on women and girls under agenda item 126 the global health foreign policy to the general assembly We tried to work nationally and we tried to help as well on international level migrant women were and refugees were core and part and parcel of all the policies that were designed from the schooling health system Awareness raising outreach social protection and violence against women The National Council for Women is the official national women machinery of Egypt as as and is the policy Platform also for the direction why we were very important the policy Political will was insisting on having something related to women because we have 73% of nursing staff Including the private sector are women 42% of human doctors are women 91% nursing staff and 56% of female employment in the service and in the health service and 18.1% of women heads of household and as you know also we have around Reaching almost 6 million refugees and migrants in Egypt. So with all this it was very important to have a clear direction The affected segments in Egypt where women at reproductive age women in with the immune disease or chronic disease Elderly women women in need migrant workers refugees women with disabilities women with health conditions pregnant lactating and Women in in fragile and informal sector workers domestic workers street vendors and women at orphanage and elderly shelters the pillars of the policy Directory or the policy note has forming pillars impact on human endowments which focus on health education social protection Or scaling up social protection safe delivery sick psychological support irregular workers and Violence against women shelters the women boys and agency was focusing on violence against women leadership and representation in decision-making and designing the policies the third pillar was impact on economic opportunities the midterm economic interventions and the support on the short Medium a short medium and long term with the financial inclusion teleworking a part-time digitalization and repair pathways and last in the pillars where was promoting data and knowledge with research surveys and The tracker as I mentioned earlier with also a social innovation monitoring evaluation and public surveys The policy tracker has identified around 106 policies measures and decision taken by the government of Egypt throughout the period from the beginning of the pandemic to the 30th of June From around 300 so around one-third of the measures taken by the government are gender-sensitive women specific or gender-responsive On the other side when the UN DP and the UN women global track tracker had Studied the work of Egypt and the policy tracker. They clustered the decisions and they have find 38 measures with 21% 21 measures specific to women and Egypt was the first in the Middle East and the age a Western Asia to be on the top of the countries responding to women in Demands with a holistic response and with measures related to major three dimensions Which is social protection labor market physical and economic policies and violence against women the the the measures Had several Directions from exceptionally for mothers family planning chronic this disease medicine delivered and Support to their to the homes measures for nursing homes and shelters Conditional cash transfer that was upscaled increased monthly income for rural women as well allowance for medical staff has increased 500 cash allowances for irregular women workers around 40% in the database Ncw in irregular workers as well or informal sector has been given a conditional cash transfer exceptional soft loans were given to women reduce and postpone microfinance Installments and funds are more funds to support microfinance project basic food supplies were delivered to The COVID-19 positive protocol to people in need. It's especially elderly sick and Disabled there is there will establish a psychological support hotlines and awareness raising and social stigma because it was hard in the beginning Mental health online programs were also offered Migrant and the FG's women are within the health programs of Egypt with no discrimination We offer medical assistance benefits to migrants and like the Egyptians exactly Electronic and financial services were also provided Egypt. There was an application on health support and digitalized financial inclusion and training With the violence against women every country in the world expected an increase we have conducted the survey to measure the Impact of the COVID on women around we discovered that there is around 7% That women affected or increased in the violence That was never They were never They did never experience it before and this was the alert But the whole percentage was around 11% support percent used to have violence cases But the 7% never had violence cases and it started in COVID The harmful traditional practices also was on our Redar screen like female genitalia mutilation early marriage dropout from schools Especially when the schools went online we were afraid that girls will be the first to be dropping out But thanks God when schools are starting now, we're finding that this was not highly effective Also we continue in delivering the free ID cards for women and women The the the Early detection on breast cancer and the health of Egyptian women at large Egypt has as I mentioned either Egypt has close to six million migrants. We live together We Imposed no restrictions on movement. We call them our guests. We don't call them migrants or refugees They are for Egyptian women. They are our guests Our violence against women complaints office, which is also supported by our IOM Provides equal treatment to migrant. We provide legal support legal aid and Migrant or refugees as as the service is as Egyptians for health system. As I said, we have equal treatment and We what was marvelous as well, although there is An economic challenge at large we found that migrant workers inside with the families in Egypt They prefer to stay with the families rather than going to their homes to to be protected fully from The covert and they felt as a family as well And we have a lot of stories documenting this as well Egypt provides training opportunities to refugees on handicrafts and the council is responsible on this and also Providing the marketing of their products the violence against women shelters are available available for women survivors from violence Also open for the migrants and the refugees and we cannot deny that the impact of the covert 19 Economically is challenging the whole world and we're trying as much as possible that women would be minimally Affected but also supported As as I mentioned Egypt got the first Degree on in the gender response Tracker the UN tracker and we are determined as well to work on the gender accelerator of closing the gender Accelerator with the word economic forum and with the covert 19 as a main Taylor with the Ministry of International cooperation The prop on the promoting of data and knowledge and statistics and research is Ongoing because as much as we learn we are designing the better policies to respond to the women needs at large in Egypt Egyptians refugees and migrants. Thank you very much Thank you very much Dr. Morsi this was a very very interesting a Presentation on the efforts of the government of Egypt and a policy tracker you mentioned I think over over hundred I think hundred six policies and measures that have been taken. It's really impressive You also clearly mentioned the important role of of women You I think it was over 90 percent 91 percent of nursing staff in the Ministry of Health are actually Women what I also found interesting you on the line that this is an international response your international collaboration You highlighted that very well and as well as some of the vulnerabilities like the violence against migrant women as well as the Important measures that to take into empower women and they were very multi-sectoral from Food supplies to mental health to infrastructure projects housing and so on Thank you very much. I turn to the governing bodies. I would like to know if we have an update on Minister kit long have one still not online. Okay, then with further without further ado I would like to go to the third speaker and if you all agree would like to keep the questions until after all the speakers have Delivered their interventions. I would like to now introduce Dr. Susanna yuck up Present here today. She's a deputy director general at WHO since 2019 Previously WHO regional director for Europe. Dr. Yuck up has held a number of high-profile national and international public health policy positions in the last three decades Including as the founding director of the European Center for disease prevention and control in Stockholm, Sweden I am has worked in close collaboration with WHO for decades Including in the current response to the covert 19 pandemic Together we are key partners in the WHO global action plan for promoting health of migrants and refugees as Coordinator and secretariat of the UN Network on migration IOM is also honored to count on WHO as a key UN system partner to ensure greater Coherence in migration and health policies. Dr. Yuck up. Thank you very much for having accepted to join us today Welcome and you have the floor Thank you very much Jacqueline. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen It is a pleasure for me to be here and I'm very pleased to contribute to this international dialogue on migration on the role of women in COVID-19 response and very important role that women will play in the recovery from the COVID-19 I Considered this is a very significant event and I'd like to start by thanking IOM for organizing it And today in the panel discussions We will be focusing on COVID-19 implications on migrant women and the recognition of migrant women's Contribution to the prevention response and recovery efforts from COVID-19 Let me first say that WHO has had a long and very successful history of working closely together with IOM and I would like to send greetings to your director general Jacqueline Antonio Vittorini from our director general Dr. Tedros who regrets that he cannot be with us today and special thanks to you also Jacqueline Wheeler for the excellent and long-standing Collaboration that we had with you over the years Together with IOM and other partners We have drawn the attention of the political leaders to migrants heightened vulnerabilities on and also particularly the vulnerabilities of women and children and During the pandemic, of course, this was absolutely visible But we have also drawn their attention to the fact that women and children have had Significant contribution both to COVID-19 response, but also to the future of the socio-economic recovery Today in my introduction, I was thinking to introduce two issues partly to talk about the role of women and migrant women in particular in the pandemic and in the recovery phase and then in the second part To address the issue of how WHO is addressing these topics So let me first review the role of women who are the driving force behind the health efforts worldwide and their contribution to the recovery will also be crucial Vice migrant women may have higher vulnerabilities in health terms They also have been the driving force behind health and health care efforts worldwide As we heard it from Maya Morse the president of the National Council for women in Egypt Who gave us very excellent summary of what is going on in Egypt and what are the figures in Egypt We can also confirm that in the global health system global health care systems Women make up some 70% of the global health workforce and therefore they are highly exposed to the COVID-19 also as patients and also to the patients in COVID-19 Recent data have shown that if you look at the total health care workers who were infected by COVID-19 and you look particularly at data that came recently from Spain and Italy You have seen that 72% as well as 66% respectively were women who were infected among the health care workers So therefore we have to address very significantly the high morbidity and mortality risks associated with migrants who are employed in the frontline services in the first line services during the COVID-19 We also need to ensure that all frontline workers Including women migrant health and social workers and caregivers They have equitable access to training to PPE and other essential products to psychosocial support and social protection at the same level as the other nationals So due to the fact that they are vulnerable They have to have access to all the services as all the others and even at a higher level because of the high infection rate Regarding vulnerabilities women particularly migrant women Most often bear the brunt of a dual burden of poor health and well-being and Inadequate access to services They may experience inequities and poor access to information health promotion prevention and care services and social and financial protection and Increased stigma and discrimination are also occurring and can hamper effective response During the COVID-19 pandemic stay at home messages have affected livelihoods Women's care burdens have increased Their access to necessities have been reduced and their social and protective networks diminished with increased amounts of household stress Due to the tensions that were generated by the pandemic and movement restrictions A sharp increase in domestic violence and intimate partner violence was also observed as health systems of most countries have been stretched by the pandemic and Priorities had to be reconsidered Staff had to be reprofiled Services had to be reprofiled because of the overwhelming demands and supply chains were also broken and therefore essential health services including sexual and reproductive health services pregnancy care contraceptives Sexual and gender-based violent services and family planning have been disrupted This has negatively impacted the already limited access to these services for migrant women So, let me come now to the second issue. How is WHO addressing the vulnerability of women Including migrant women in the response to pandemic and what do we consider as the most important tasks? So first of all at one level The key is universal health coverage Which means access to services and financial protection to which WHO and all the partners and Actually, the whole world is absolutely committed We need to promote health systems that are people-centered inclusive and gender sensitive But we have learned a lot on this issue during the pandemic We have learned that we have to go much further to make the health systems more resilient We have to improve the preparedness We have to improve primary health care and we have to improve The access to essential public health services which should be made global public goods And I like to underline the fact that we have to strengthen primary health care at all level and In all this as women are such an important part of the global health workforce As I said at the beginning 70 percent They will have a crucial role in all this Move towards more resilience and in all this move towards recovery Equitable and non-discriminatory Non-discriminatory access to health and protection services for migrants during COVID-19 response is crucial All member states have an obligation to protect and to promote the right to health of all people including migrants and all migrants regardless of their legal status Have the right to access health care services such as testing diagnostics care and treatment and Referral as well as prevention and health promotion related activities for COVID-19 Good health monitoring and data are also needed to understand the health needs and to set priorities that integrate migrants care into the overall health systems and Only 40 percent of the globally reported Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported to WHO with age and sex Disaggregation and it is not due to the fact that counties don't want to report but these data are not available So therefore we have to invest a lot into this to make sure that data is available and Data is aggregated according to age and sex Then we also need to do more on the research front We need to conduct a gender analysis of data and invest in quality gender-responsive research on the potentially differential adverse health social and economic impact of COVID-19 on women and men The findings of such analysis should be used to fine-tune response policies In this regard WHO is conducting a survey which is called apart together to better understand the impacts of COVID-19 in refugee and migrant populations and the outcomes will be presented in December this year Equitable access to sexual and reproductive health services and gender-based violence Must be included in the essential packages of services Responding to the pandemic The predominant role of women in response to and recovery from COVID-19 Should be recognized and promoted Particularly concerning their caring role for example as health workers and I would like to conclude by recognizing Then the pandemic exacerbates existing inequities in health systems capacities We must leave no migrants women and children behind in our public health responses to the pandemic Using an inclusive approach that respects the human rights and Finally the role in the recovery will be crucial and we have to think jointly with the member states in the upcoming period on what are the lessons that we have learned from the COVID on the impact of health services and how we can further improve the resilience of health services and in this women and migrant women Including have to be part and parcel of the sinking and brainstorming process. Thank you very much Jacqueline. Thank you colleagues back to you Thank you very much for this WHO perspective which Very clearly showed the incredible Participation of women in the global health work for some 70% and also some important facts on mortality and and morbidity You also very clearly Identified highlighted how it will be imperative that all people also all migrants and especially the most vulnerable Such as women and girls have equitable access to essential Primary health care services as well as a critical access to COVID-19 tools Of course failing them will mean we fail public health. It's not only in human rights issue. It's also really a public health issue You also very clearly underlined how universal health coverage will remember the UN General Assembly and the UHC declaration for last year is actually our key vehicle to to move forward into the right direction very important you highlighted the need for data and The work and of course your joint work with member states We look forward to your to the outcomes in December of the apart together survey and With further ado, I would like to move again to our governing bodies Colleagues who's here. If there's any news from the first speaker note. Unfortunately, then Let's move on Ford speaker also present in the room today like to introduce The art extinguished the Ford speaker miss Christine lower director of the UN women office in Geneva since 2017 Hello, good morning before joining UN women miss Lowry served as a diplomat in the Swiss Foreign Service for 12 years at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in Bern and the permanent mission of Switzerland to the UN in New York IRM counts on UN women as a partner addressing the needs and positive potential of the millions of migrant women and girls around the world Earlier this week. We jointly hosted an informal virtual dialogue on the importance of ensuring Universal health coverage for women migrant women and girls in the context of covert 19 together with Luxembourg, Mexico and the Philippines as well as UN FBA UNICEF and WHO and Christine will also share some insights from that discussion with us I have a pleasure to have a pleasure to have you here with us today and the floor is yours Christine Thank you very much Shekleen and let me thank let me start by thanking IOM for organizing this year's international dialogue for migration under these very difficult Circumstances and for inviting you and women to participate in this panel discussion on the role of women in the cover 19 response and recovery The current year 2020 is marking a confluence of important Anniversaries also pertaining to gender equality women's empowerment and their human rights Notably the 25th anniversary of the Beijing declaration and platform for action 20 years since the groundbreaking UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women peace and security The 75th anniversary of the UN and the 10th anniversary of you and women my own organization For this year 2020 was originally imagined as a year dedicated to reflection celebration and renewed commitment to gender equality women's empowerment and women's human rights Celebrated at the UN as well as the generation equality forum in France and Mexico area earlier this year's These conference have been moved to next year But so this year still presents an opportunity for the global community to take stock on the progress achieved and charge a cause of action To tackle the areas in which significant challenges remain including the full realization of migrant women's human rights However, as we have heard the COVID-19 pandemic and its staggering impact have radically altered the context in which we are observing these milestones This year has instead seen in inequalities further exacerbated And the limited gains of the past decades since the adoption of the Beijing declaration at risk of being rolled back Women in migration have been particularly affected by these worsening inequalities Because of the systemic discrimination they face on the basis of their race national origin migration status and other factors These repercussions therefore of COVID-19 therefore have been severe Not only are migrant women more likely to be exposed to the virus owing to the nature of their work But they face more adverse economic impacts generally earning less saving less and holding more insecure jobs Millions of migrant women have been working on the front lines during the pandemic We heard it as healthcare workers, doctors, nurses and millions more have been playing other critical yet often times invisible roles As care workers, cleaners, laundry workers, grocery clerks Due to the nature of their jobs many migrant women have not been able to work remotely facing a heightened risk of exposure to the virus Globally as a result of the lockdown measures there has been a shocking rise in cases of violence against women This is the so-called shadow pandemic Migrant women are obviously affected but for women migrant domestic workers the risks are greater still For those who were unable to return home they were forced to remain locked in with the employers Leading to a rise in cases of labour rights violations and abuse Recognising the issues facing migrant women during the COVID-19 pandemic is important But finding practical solutions is really critical So three days ago Jacqueline just mentioned it IOM and UN Women co-organised a side event and informal dialogue on COVID-19 The importance of ensuring universal health coverage for all migrant women and girls At this event governance UN agencies such as UNFPA, WHO and UNICEF And civil society presented concrete measures and good practices on integrating migrant women into response and recovery plans While ensuring the promotion and protection of their rights Multistakeholder partnerships including with migrant women and their organisations were identified as being an essential feature of response and recovery measures While the pandemic is a global crisis many of the resultant impacts need to be addressed by community groups such as migrant women's organisations at the local level The importance of working with community leaders to address xenophobic abuse and prevent migrants from being blamed for the spread of coronavirus Was recognised as an important step to support migrants integration and improve their access to services The event also underlined the importance of universal health coverage for all During this current crisis it has become very clear how vital it is that essential services to prevent and respond to gender-based violence are accessible even during lockdowns These essential services to address gender-based violence should be free at the point of use and should include treating physical injuries as well as providing psychosocial care Speakers further highlighted in the event the urgent need for awareness raising about violence against women and reinforcing complaints Complaints mechanisms as essential tools for addressing this atrocious shadow pandemic The detention of migrants should only ever be a measure of last resort Migrants who have not committed any criminal act should not remain detained during a global health crisis Because detention centres are not equipped with sufficient hygiene facilities and the implementation of distancing measures is almost impossible Providing community-based alternatives must be prioritised for migrant women who are survivors of violence, pregnant migrants and those who identify as LGBTIQ The economic impacts of this pandemic have been severe for so many people, for migrant women who are some of the furthest behind as they are concentrated in low-paying and unregulated sectors These impacts have been dire. Response measures that ensure migrant women have access to social security would provide a critical lifeline But because of their migration status, too many women and their families remain excluded from social security Coordinated action based on stakeholder solidarity is crucial to build back better and differently from COVID-19 Through the Generation Equality Forum that we are organising in the context of the Beijing Plus 25 anniversary together with the co-hosts France and Mexico In close partnership with civil society, including migrant women's organisations, we are working to foster such solidarity The Forum is mobilising gender equality advocates from governments to grassroots organisations, private sector to youth activists to take action and undo the reversals that we have witnessed as the pandemic has unfolded Throughout the coming months and until summer 2021, we are mobilising a movement for urgent transformative change that places the voices and needs of marginalised and grassroots communities Such as women in migration at its heart and foster solidarity-based partnerships around the priorities and challenges that the COVID-19 crisis poses to these communities that have been disproportionately affected By doing so, we can work to build a more just and equal world as we emerge from COVID-19 In conclusion, let me recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused great uncertainty, displacement and adversity, exposing huge disparities and inequalities across the world But rather than seeking to go back to business as usual, we must make every effort to bridge these rifts and create more equal and inclusive societies Affording migrant women and girls the same treatment as nationals in social economic recovery plan I thank you very much for your attention Thank you very much Christina for this great intervention and reminding us about very important vehicles, not only UHC that we just heard about but also the Beijing platform You also, as previous speakers, underlined that inequalities have been further exacerbated by COVID-19 and that migrant women and girls unfortunately face many obstacles in accessing essential services Due to their migration status and lack and exclusion from social protection Yet they're more exposed to all sorts of risks including health risks and violence, interrupted care, substandard living conditions and so on Thank you for underlining the invisible work and contributions of women I also think it was very nice to hear your summary of the session that we had earlier this week That we now see an amplified need for whole society and whole government approach to address the structural obstacles and inequality faced by migrant women And the need for protection from experiencing of course vulnerable situations and their own role in bringing change and the community-based engagements I'm going to stop here because we can continue forever on this very important topic I'd like to know if we have any more news, no, okay, then let's move on to the next speaker That will be possibly our last speaker then, I think Okay So allow me to welcome to this panel a video message from Maria Corina Muscus Toro Member of the UN major group for children and youth Maria Corina is a Venezuelan migrant and women's rights activist She's a lawyer from the Universidad Catolica Andres Bejo And holds a master's degree in international legal studies at the American University Washington College of Law Where she specialized in human rights and gender She's the co-founder and director of Venezuelanas Globales A platform that gathers and connects women from the Venezuelan diaspora The UN major group for children and youth is a partner of the IOM in promoting the perspective and the role of youth In the debate on migration and migration governance efforts The group was a key contributor to IDM 2019 on youth and migration And as well as an active participant in previous IDM sessions We very much look forward to its contribution to the session and we regret not to have Maria Corina with us online Because of the time difference, but I'm certain that her video message will enrich our discussion today Let's start with the video message Good day, everyone. I would like to thank the international organization for migration for this invitation My name is Maria Corina Mujkus. I am a Venezuelan, a women and a migrant I come here today representing the United Nations major group on children and youth Migration focal point as a board member in gender And also as director of Venezuelanas Globales, the first and largest network that gathers and connects Venezuelan migrant women I want to begin my remarks by telling you a story Felimar Luque is a doctor, a Venezuelan gynecologist that migrated to Peru Her dreams to keep her performing her duties as a doctor were shattered once in Lima Where she sold arepas Venezuelan typical food in a street market with her sister For more than a year, she dreamed of pursuing her profession And what was a terrible crisis for some became an important opportunity for her As a consequence of the COVID-19 crisis and the lack of health professional She is now working in the most important social security hospital in Peru This is a great example to let us understand the importance of social and economic inclusion of young migrants States can accomplish much when they let migrants regularize and use their skills to benefit the community and their host country Migrants are not a burden, but an added value to the society's development When discussing the pandemic and the solutions to COVID-19 crisis It is not only important to consider a gender perspective But to understand the impacts of migrant women are different as they experience inequality and discrimination in diverse ways According to the recent IOM World Migration Report 2020 Migrant women represent around 74% of the service industry And their vulnerabilities during the crisis not only includes gender-based violence But also, xenophobic rejection, greater insecurity against the virus An over load of care work and increased gender-based violence as migrant women do not have sufficient support and network In the specific case of migrant girls, imagine what this means According to the Malala Fund recent report, around 20 million more secondary school girls could be out of school after the COVID-19 crisis has passed States must recognize structural discrimination and the challenges that a person faces if they're young But also a migrant and a women or a girl We, migrant women and girls, as mentioned before, face particular vulnerabilities And it's important to address our needs when developing public policies And during decision-making processes, it's important to listen to our needs In the particular case of health services, there are difficulties for migrants and refugees As mentioned by special rapporteur of the United Nations on Migrants Felipe González Morales And on trafficking in persons Maria Grazia Gianmarignaro States should also take steps toward regularization of undocumented migrants whenever necessary In view of facilitating their access to health services during the fights against the pandemic Therefore, it's important to grant migrant access to health and healthcare regardless of their status And in particular, young women and girls need to continue to have access to sexual and reproductive rights despite the COVID-19 crisis It is important to recognize our vulnerabilities, but also know that migrant women are agents of change For example, in Venezuelan global, it's the platform that I coordinate that gathers and empowers women from the Venezuelan diaspora In the beginning, we were just a few Venezuelan women connected on a Facebook group Two years later, we are a community of more than 2,000 Venezuelans and 19 ambassadors in more than 14 cities in the world That organize meetings and discussions with women from the diaspora This community understands the need to adapt to a new country That is why we run up sessions about personal development and professional skills Even though we are migrating due to a terrible complex humanitarian crisis, we also like to be recognized as agents of change And migrants that provide an added value to the local community This dialogue is called Reimagining the World of Migrants and Human Mobility for the Achievement of the Sustainable Developing Goals In that sense, it is important that we support women and girls' lead and youth lead initiative Include women and girls, especially migrants, in decision-making processes Make sure that when creating a response to the pandemic, migrants have affordable and effective healthcare and education We should not meet a pandemic to realize that cases of migrant women such as Feli Mar can contribute to the host country States shall ensure that the skills and qualifications of migrant women are recognized and create logic and regional pathways To integrate us socially and economically so that we can provide our talent and knowledge in order to contribute to the host country Thank you very much Well, it's too bad you're not here, Maria Grina, but it was a very good statement, really congratulations It was an excellent example of the importance of social economic inclusion of young migrants And to use their skills to enhance the development of their community Seeing migrant women as agents of change I don't think we have news from the first speaker No, okay Thank you very much for the speakers Your interventions were incredibly rich I will definitely not try to summarize them at this moment But I would like to open the floor for questions as well as comments and interventions from member states And I understand, and partners of course, and I understand there may also be some of the speakers or interveners, interventions from the chat box For now I have a list, I see the Holy See asked to have the floor followed by some whole range of other speakers Actually from PAM, the Parliamentary Assembly of Mediterranean as well as a range of member states I'll start with the Holy See, no? Okay, we'll move on to... Holy See, yes Okay, okay, I see, yes, sorry sir, I didn't see you Thank you, thank you Madam Moderator As the work continues to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic The crisis is changing our way of life Calling into question our economic health and social systems And exposing our human fragility COVID-19 also has further exacerbated the challenges and risks faced by women and girls This remains a global concern that hinders the full exercise of the unique and irreplaceable role of women And there is also negative consequences Not only for women themselves, but also for their families, communities, and our societies at large The vulnerability faced by women is nonetheless met with extraordinary resilience Even during these challenging times, women have shown their strength and taken on key roles in promoting the well-being of society as a whole Indeed, many women, including migrant women, are at the front line of their responses to COVID-19 Among them, the Holy See wishes to stress the invaluable contribution of many unsung religious sisters engaged in humanitarian activities They give their time and service to the benefit of the most vulnerable, tending to the sick in these challenging times, often in places where states cannot reach and where there are no alternatives Madam moderator, everyone should feel safe and secure in their homes And therefore, it is deeply regrettable that during the lockdowns, there have been an upsurge in domestic violence and abuse As pointed out by Pope Francis, every act of violence committed against a human being is a wound in humanity's flesh Every violent death diminishes us as a people We must break this cycle which seems inescapable, unfortunately In this regard, this delegation urges that the pandemic becomes a wake-up call to strengthen the invaluable role of women in society In light of the challenges and the risks faced by women and girls today aggravated by the pandemic, we would like to ask the panelists two questions First, how can we amplify women's voices in the recovery phase of the pandemic for a more equitable and healthier future? And the second question, what practical measures and best practices can be shared to help prevent domestic violence? Thank you, Madam moderator Sorry, I'm still writing Thank you very much, these are very important questions Can I say yes, I take several questions before I turn to the panelists for the answers I would like to introduce the next intervention by the Parliamentary Assembly of Mediterranean Are you online? Okay, go ahead Thank you Excellencies, it is my sincere pleasure to address you on behalf of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Dominican Iranian at this very important session of the International Dialogue on Migration In the last month, the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately exposed all of us in particular vulnerable groups and women who are at the frontline Women attend for 70% of the health and social care workforce but hold only 25% senior roles The crisis further exacerbated pre-existing gender inequalities and women and girls overrepresented in informal and unstable employment face multiple forms of discrimination and domestic violence While cases of violence have been increasing, some health services to victims and domestic violence have been unfunded Restricted or prohibited to comply with reallocation of health-based services fighting the pandemic while judicial systems have been suspended Women who are migrants, refugees, part of the LGBTQ community or have disabilities go disproportionately underserved as they have especially vulnerable to gender-based violence in particularly during their journey They also face discrimination against social and legal services, often facing language and cultural barriers, stigma from the police as well as permanent fear of detention and deportation During the pandemic, our assembly urged its member countries to include women and girls in both emergency measures and long-term responses to the COVID-19 pandemic as a key principle to ensure the recovery of more sustainable, resilient and equal societies that leave no one behind In such a context, it has to be our great concern to support women irrespective of their migratory stages and to ensure the implementation of anti-discrimination policies as well as alternative forms of providing services which will effectively meet every women's needs At PAM, we are convinced that this crisis could be turned into a great opportunity to strengthen girls and women's rights and gender-based equality but we need a comprehensive response which includes women as a taller population as well as a driving force Promoting gender-responsive budgeting as a COVID-19 response governance tool, expanding opportunities for women-owned and women-led businesses to access markets are some concrete responsive proposals In the longer term, it is important to develop a comprehensive response to tackle gender inequality and gender-based violence In this regard, I wish to share with you some policy recommendations by the PAM Task Force on gender equality First, we have to develop and adopt policies addressing structural inequalities such as the labour markets to promote women to decision-making positions Ensuring that the same definition of domestic violence is applied across international, national, regional and local legal systems and criminalizing domestic violence is equally important Parliamentarians play a key role in adopting adequate legislation and allocating enough resources to the most effective services However, we can only address the challenges if we work together, adjust policies from different levels of government and adopt a multi-sectoral approach Putting women and girls in the COVID-19 responses will accelerate progress towards a more inclusive recovery and help build more equal and sustainable economies In line with this strategy, we are really proud to participate and contribute today to this important meeting and we shall build on the results and follow up with our national delegations Thank you very much for your attention Thank you very much PAM for this very important statement I would like to take a few more comments or questions from the floor Next one, the government of Philippines Good morning Thank you very much I'd like to recall that the Philippines very happily joined the co-sponsors of that side event that was earlier mentioned and used this occasion to express our appreciation to Mexico The IOM, UN Women, WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF and Women in Migration Network for bringing to the fore this important subject of ensuring universal healthcare coverage for all migrant women The Philippine Migrant Workforce is heavily feminized Many working in the domestic and healthcare sectors often dismissed by some as 3D jobs, dirty, demeaning and dangerous The COVID-19 pandemic revealed these services, however, to also be essential Many prone to being exposed to the violence and situations of risk inherent in their nature of employment We have also seen how economies and communities relied on migrants in the health workforce and domestic care services throughout this crisis, despite lockdowns and other restrictions One in six doctors across OECD countries studied abroad In the last decade, the number of foreign-born doctors and nurses in developed regions grew by 20% Migrants Filipinos among them make up 12% of the 1.9 million strong UK health force and 17% of the 12.4 million strong US health force as an example While working to ensure that our own demands for a domestic health workforce is not impaired we are fully aligned with the global code of practice on the international recruitment of health personnel Our bilateral agreement with Germany, for example, on the recruitment of nurses has remained active throughout this period At the very least, the pandemic has demonstrated how positive migrants, women migrants in particular can contribute to societies when they are able to participate in them fully and actively to the maximum of their skills and abilities In this regard, we must also consider at some point how women migrant workers can contribute to what will eventually emerge as the new normal In this regard, I am very happy to refer to a joint statement by several UN agencies including the WHO just released yesterday calling for a renewed commitment to global solidarity Permit me to read a section of that joint statement Particular attention must be paid to the situation of women who are overrepresented in low-paid jobs and care roles Different forms of support are key including cash transfers, child allowances and healthy school meals Shelter and food relief initiatives support for employment retention and recovery and financial relief for businesses including micro-small and medium-sized enterprises The last is very important because in many developing countries women are the ones who are handling the mom-and-pop stores that service so many of the peoples of those countries and many of those stores are sustained by remittances from family members overseas As a point of hope and encouragement, that statement also says, and I would like to take this as my concluding point It says we are committed to pulling our expertise and experience to support countries in their crisis response measures and efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals The extent to which this applies or should apply to migrant workers and migrant women in particular is something that we in Geneva and elsewhere, all the agencies and interested states within the framework of the GCM and elsewhere should be able to bring our minds together and move forward Because it is no secret that during the pandemic we have not seen a diminution of stigmatization and scapegoating of exploitation and exclusion We must work better, we must build better and we must come back stronger, as has been said Thank you Thank you very much for this strong statement and underlining the disproportionate risk of many migrant women workers and yet we all recognize the importance of their work as well as the WHO Code of International Recruitment and the role of remittances and our own roles in responding The next speaker on my list is from Tunisia, I'm not sure if the speaker is in the room Yes, floor is yours and please try to keep your statements to 2-3 minutes maximum, thanks Thank you Madam President Thank you Madam Chair First of all I want to thank all the panelists for the wealth of information shared around this common theme In other words the contribution of women to the COVID-19 response We want to highlight that vulnerable and marginalized populations were those that were hardest hit by the pandemic And that is why from the beginning we have joined the appeal of the Secretary General of the United Nations to leave no one behind We would like at this stage to emphasize the importance that Tunisia gives to the economic independence and active participation of women in political life We also want to promote gender equality and eradicate all forms of discrimination against women Just for an example the rate of women doctors in my country is about 50% Those who have pharmacy degrees 72% and nurses it's almost 64% In some regions paramedical staff is mostly female and sometimes reaching a ratio of 80% whereas medical staff is more or less god parity All this to say that women is at the heart of the fight against the pandemic However several cases of gender violence have occurred over the sanitary crisis in my country and elsewhere Yes women under confinement has seen their workload increase Especially when they are part of the sectors that have continued to work in person or even remotely Together with an important domestic workload We should also emphasize that intra-family violence has also been on the increase This affects particularly women and children This has been exacerbated among those who are more vulnerable, weaker and many of them are also part of precarious and informal work sector To face this my country has set up forward looking legislation to eradicate violence against women And we have set up institutional mechanisms to protect women and to prevent violence Several initiatives have been carried out to raise awareness and to provide better follow up of women that are victims of violence or discrimination This is done hand in hand with civil society organizations Regarding legal protection last April the Superior Council of the Judiciary ordered family judges to take all necessary measures to better protect victims To guarantee their access to justice and to fight against violence against women and children as a vulnerable social subgroup especially in times of pandemic Similarly special treatment is given to women that are incarcerated We shouldn't lose sight of them that way they could also access health care services and that way they could also stay in touch with their families Madam Chair we are facing together one of the most violent crises One of the more devastating crises that has shown in a short space of time our collective weakness But also the great divide or the great divides rather between men and women as a collective This is a threat it threatens peace and security at a global level which is why Tunisia supported the initiative as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021 And it has allowed for the adoption on the 1st of July last of resolution 2532 on COVID-19 This historic resolution recognized the role that women have in the fight against COVID-19 and made an appeal to minimize the impact of the pandemic on all vulnerable categories Especially in conflict areas and obviously women and girls It is essential that the international community persevere in their solidarity We need to mobilize all resources available what is at stake is our health and our future Thank you very much for this call for solidarity I'd like to invite the Global Policy Insights I think the two speakers who would like to take the floor Online On behalf of Global Policy Insights I would like to thank the IOM this panel all distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen For allowing me to speak and represent my organization at this event I'm excited as the female representative for my organization to contribute to this dialogue this very important dialogue on gender inclusion Migrant women are more at risk and disproportionately affected more than ever and therefore closing the gender gap has never been more essential in building back better and beyond Women are also the first to feel the effects of any natural economic or health disaster and for migrant women and girls these effects are felt all the more Cases of domestic violence increase girls are discouraged from receiving an education or it becomes unsafe for them to travel to school And financial support for small business and domestic migrant women owners is low to none Young women and children have played an invaluable role in the COVID response and recovery But on the whole they have higher vulnerability in the areas of health education and business integration As the dominant gender in the health care services they have been at a higher risk of exposure and infection yet still receive lower income than their male counterparts Women are also disadvantaged when it comes to receiving their own health care and mental health services These situations are aggravated for migrant women as they increasingly are discriminated against by both their country of residence and even their countries of origin For migrant domestic women workers the pain is greater still as labor rights have been violated and in many cases incidents of domestic violence have starkly increased In addition to being disadvantaged in affording low and high technology resources for quality education Migrant girls are often discriminated against and the first to feel the effects of disasters as education is taken away For many migrant girls education is an important channel for physical and mental growth yet schools are rarely a safe space for infrastructural, transportation and health reasons We must do better to provide clean water sanitation at schools for gender specific health and hygiene services so that their reproductive rights are not violated And do not become a cause for education disruption. We must also create safer means of commuting to school Providing bicycles, safer road conditions or a consistent and reliable public transportation system to and from schools so that migrant girls have the security to travel to school and receive an education Finally we must partner with teachers and families to emphasize the inclusion of migrant girls in the education system Finally migrant women can help shape international and local policy as agents of change Migrant women contribute to human and economic capital and have historically contributed holistic intersectional and multilateral development solutions that have helped advance important equality initiatives and in facilitating peace and security We must do better to integrate migrant women into the economic mobility and provide formal employment and financial security to this community Furthermore, we must also partner with the private sector and education sector to provide migrant women and young entrepreneurs the socioeconomic and entrepreneurial skill sets to afford women the chance to contribute as human and economic capital in the workforce of COVID recovery and beyond Especially in these most vulnerable populations Holding governments to universal healthcare coverage inclusive and gender specific regular health services and access to public health services at all levels is essential Gender mainstreaming and gender oriented public policies programs and work initiatives must be implemented at all levels by multi stakeholders the governments and the private sector Criminalizing violence against migrant women and children and labor exploitation must also be put into effect Equal access to education and job opportunities for higher education for women and creating safer education conditions for girls not limited to transportation infrastructure and gender specific amenities Migrant women and children have been most vulnerable during COVID And if we do not take the onus upon ourselves to mobilize and improve conditions for these communities We are dangerously at risk of not only continuing to increase gender based disparities but also leave an entire demographic of invaluable human capital and individuals behind The contributions of migrant women and girls can help foster community partnerships increase our economic development shape policy recover better and safer and build back better and they must be included in this dialogue Thank you Thank you very much I don't know if there's a second speaker of The global policy insights I had where there were two if not then I would like to move to a next speaker from a member state Mexico In the room Muchas gracias Jacqueline Many thanks Jacqueline. I also want to thank the panel. I also want to thank the UN Women for inviting a Mexico to host the parallel event this week As the panel highlighted the pandemic has raised the important challenges when it comes to enjoying fundamental rights, especially for women and migrant girls We are threatened with going backwards in empowerment and gender equality Therefore when we look at responses to the pandemic and recovery both at national and international level We include women fully as well as girls regardless of their migratory condition and that they be provided with specific attention Mexico has taken many measures and I'll only share three with you The first is that we've strengthened the access of women and girls to health care and other basic services. This includes sexual health services as well as reproductive health services too We've given a maximum priority to the emergence of migrant women in difficult situations that were in civil society centers so that they could have access to services Our laws ban the arrest of migrant girls, which is why they were always forwarded to civil society centers And last but not least, we have designated as key activities over the period of the pandemic all those services dedicated to prevent violence and this includes gender and sexual violence We also designated as an essential event all the services that provide refuge so that women and girls weren't returned if they were in positions of danger All these measures bear in mind the recommendations stemming from UN agencies and the network on migration and go towards the global pact on migration that for Mexico represents a holistic roadmap in this pandemic context Last but not least, Mexico has a very feminist foreign policy. We want to empower women and girls and gender equality are cross cutting priorities for us Which is why we continue to work for the eradication of all discrimination against women and girls especially bearing in mind the start of our action decade in which our actions will define our success in gender equality and the whole agenda 2030 as a whole. Thank you Thank you very much. I'm Mexico. Thanks for referring to the compact and amplifying the need to empower women. I'd like to go back to the global policy insights who has a second speaker online. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the audience. I would like to express more on the more vulnerability that is caused as a result of the COVID-19 in refugee camps purposely What happened is in many migrant refugee camps, economy and social life have been negatively imparted as a result of COVID-19 pandemic And those who are involved in pet businesses, activities, migrant camp have diminished resulting from the lockdown, alcohol consumption by mail is on the high And currently in some camps, there were attempted suicide cases close to 21 reportedly in Palorino refugee settlement in Uganda. And this has actually resulted in a load of domestic violence against women Pardon me, Mr. Speaker, to share some interventions that could help stakeholders to respond to this issue. And some also have actually been reported to be carried out in some camps. One of them is the creation of free mobile channel outlets to report cases of domestic violence in camps like Palorino, where interventions like Establishing mobile channels where people can call on relevant stakeholders in the community to respond to issue of domestic violence has actually helped during this COVID-19 era. And also in some camps, there were reported interventions like train anti violence response unit that consists of psychologists, a police officer and traditional leaders will help to Resultantly help to step down the domestic violence in some places where it has been reported. And on a long term On a long term, the reported interventions would have helped where creation of women friendly spaces that are actually restricted as well and community cessation, which have actually helped some current These are current interventions that are happening in some camps now, and it has helped to reduce cases of domestic violence. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much for highlighting forced migration realities, such as in camp settings. I'd like to now give the floor to the International Federation of Medical Students, followed by Adapt Oxfam and ILO. So International Federation of Medical Students, not sure if you're here or if you're online online. Thank you, Madam Moderator. Distinguished panelists, ladies and gentlemen, the International Federation of Medical Students Associations commends the efforts to facilitate a dialogue on the effects of COVID-19 has on women and girls. While the whole world is rushing to fight the immediate threats of the pandemic, other important issues are fading into the background. As we commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and platform for action, gender disparities are being reinforced and the realization of gender equality and empowerment have stumbled in the time of crisis. It is established that women make up 70% of the health workforce, a big percentage of which represents migrant women, yet women represent only 25% of the leadership positions. This has been reflected in the COVID-19 response as well, with women being the majority of the force at the front line of dealing with the pandemic. Despite that, a lack of accommodation to women's needs persists as policies fail to address the specific adversities women face in the pandemic, whether as part of the general population or as first responders. Women are at a greater risk, at a greater exposure to the virus, while sexual and reproductive health services have also been undermined throughout the crisis. They are also highly susceptible to the pandemic resulting job insecurity, exploitation, and adverse socioeconomic impacts. In addition, women have also been subject to an alarming increase in violence and harassment. Having a migrant background only increases the burden as the effects of the pandemic are intensified and women face an additional set of challenges to bear. In the pre-pandemic normality, migrant women deal with aforementioned challenges on a normal basis. The IFMSA recognizes the vast contribution women have been making in the COVID-19 response, especially migrant women. The International Federation also reaffirms the necessity of adopting a gender-sensitive and intersectional approach to the emergency response, as key to ensure that the needs of women globally are met and that truly no one is left behind. The IFMSA emphasizes gender equality in times of pandemic and beyond, as it is a prerequisite to fulfilling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which stipulates that everyone is entitled to human rights without distinction of any kind. Therefore, the International Federation of Medical Students Association calls on all involved actors to ensure the adoption and implementation of inclusive policies that target the specific challenges which women and girls, especially migrants, face at the times of COVID-19. To ensure equal representation of women in key decision-making and all decision-making organs and leadership positions, and finally to promote large-scale intersectional assessment of the health, healthcare and socio-economic needs and gaps, ensure universal health coverage for all women and girls. Thank you. Thank you very much for reminding us of the lack of women in leadership positions yet being the bulk of the health workforce. Let's move to the next speaker from ADAPT, followed by Oxfam and Aylo. ADAPT in the room. Thank you very much. Distinguished moderator, distinguished panelists and delegates, ADAPT, the Africa-Europe diaspora development platform, would like to thank IOM for organizing such an important event in circumstances that are particularly difficult. We rejoice the fact that migrant women are once again put under the spotlight. Women have played, or I should say are playing as the pandemic is not over, a major role in COVID-19 response and recovery. They often do so in the framework of their regular jobs, as many of them are COVID-19 frontliners, but not only. It is crucial to stress the fact that a large number of them went out of their way to assist those more or as vulnerable as them, be it in their countries of residence or in their countries of origin. From food distribution in Belgium to mass production in Nigeria, from fundraising to finance personal protective equipment for Madagascar medical staff, to the creation of a help desk intended for migrants of Eritrean origin in the Netherlands, the action conducted by migrant women and migrant in general to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 have been manifold and deserve to be highlighted. This is what we in ADAPT, and this is the reason why we in ADAPT have decided to do and to conduct a media campaign aiming at showcasing stories of migrants, a majority of which are women that choose their agency to help those in need. These stories prove that even in time of extraordinary uncertainty, migrants remain agents of change. Thank you for your attention. Thank you very much. Let's move to the next speaker of Oxfam. Not sure if Oxfam is online. Thank you, Madame Moderator and distinguished speakers and delegates. Even in developed countries, pandemic showcased us persisting inequalities between men and women. Women received a burden of homeschooling children caring for household while working remotely and having employment insecurity. But we have to recognize that there was additional vulnerabilities that touched women migrants. Migrants, specifically women, often have had to navigate pandemic while working in businesses or branches deemed necessary. This put them at additional factor risks. During the pandemic, whether working in businesses or branches deemed necessary or not, migrants, especially women, were at risk to be laid off first. They also did not have the access to proper and stable healthcare. Often, sometimes when they tried to exercise it, they were faced not only by doctors, but also immigration officers. I am streaming right now from New York, United States. In United States, migrants who seek medical healthcare due to COVID were often approached in hospitals by ICE. My appeal is to all the states that are present or listen to us remotely. States should not be concerned by immigration status but provide necessary healthcare, social services and social coverage for all migrants, legal or illegal. This is specifically crucial to women migrants. Women migrants in regular conditions are vulnerable to employment instability and lack of crucial healthcare. We cannot allow for the pandemic to future deepen those patterns as it can lead to endangerment of their well-being and even their lives. Thank you. Thank you very much, Speaker of Oxfam. Start with you, please, in asking for maybe a five-minute maximum reaction to comments from the floor or questions. I think for the amplification of women voices on the ground in the pandemic, it's very important to make sure that we have either strong civil society or national women machinists linked to the ground to be able to listen to the women on the ground and take their messages to the decision-makers. This link, if it's not there, it's not only social media that will be amplifying their voices, the message and their demands should be coming up to the decision-maker and the policy-maker. So when we're drafting the COVID-19 policy note, we were listening to the women on the ground. What are their demands? What are their challenges? What they are afraid of or fear of? So listening is the core issue on amplifying the voices. They should not be talking and no one is listening. Second, awareness-raising is extremely important and the real info, the right info, should be going to the women in all areas because a lot of rumors, a lot of misinformation, a lot of negative vibes are coming to the women and hence she's becoming more vulnerable to the whole situation. So right and real information is extremely important for them to respond as well. Psychological support related in relation to domestic violence, psychological support to men and women is important and at that time we were offering the psychological support online. They need to talk, they need to understand that confinement is really putting a lot of pressure on both the father and the mother in the house and also the children in the house. So providing online psychological support might minimize the level of domestic violence at home. And the women should be aware on what hotlines, referral systems, support systems, general prosecutor's line or also national complaints offices line and child health line to be able to communicate immediately if there is a case of violence. So the linkage between the psychological support and the referral and the way of submission of a complaint and also a quick response is a must. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for your comments and emphasizing the importance of the community-based approach. I would like to turn to Dr. Jakob. Would you like to take some of the questions and provide your reflections following the reactions from the floor? Thank you very much Jacqueline and I'd like to thank all the representatives here in the room for this very rich discussion. And let me pick up on some of the issues from a WHO's perspective. First of all, women play a very crucial role in the societies and this should be further strengthened and they should play a very significant role in the rebuilding and in the new normal. And to make this happen we need to give them more training, more education, strengthen their role in the societies and particularly put them into more and more leading positions. In order to make this happen we need policy dialogues and policy decisions and to make this policies evidence-based we need more data and research. With regard to the policy dimensions and policy decisions these have to be whole of government, whole of society approaches because there are many intersectional issues that need to be addressed and I fully agree with those statements who underlined the need to involve the parliamentarians in this process. Governments together with parliaments with local governments and with the NGOs together have a very important role to play but they have to work together. And the Philippines referred to the joint statement that was launched yesterday which is extremely powerful. Also the code of code and of course we have to fully implement it because it's not enough to launch it. It has to be implemented. Then the code of conduct for international recruitment and the year of nursing and midwives which is this year are very important issues also to further strengthen the role of the women. But what I would like to underline also is that although there is some setback in economic terms during the COVID and we all know. And it has hugely impacted the socioeconomic issues but we should not give up on our dreams that we have captured in the SDGs. And the SDG agenda should go ahead and therefore we need to bring now the pandemic to an end and I will come back to that in a minute. But at the same time we also have to work very strongly together on the implementation towards the SDG goals. The third issue I wanted to pick up is around violence. Clearly the lockdown and the COVID-19 have increased anxiety and depression, especially in families at home during the lockdown time which led to an increased use of substances, different substances including alcohol and others. And this has led to a higher increase of violence and abuse. And one issue that I would like to flag up here is that these are all connected to mental health issues and mental health has been an area that has been far too much neglected in the past years and decades. So in the building back we have to invest much more into mental health and how we have to, how we work together to promote mental health issues and together with the NCD agenda we have to bring it to the forefront of our attention. Then looking, moving forward and looking at the priorities. The most urgent issue is to bring the present pandemic to an end and we know what are the strategies that work and we have to use these strategies to a maximum like the public health measures and I'm very happy to look around in this room and to see that you keep the physical distancing and everybody is wearing a mask which is great. But then once the different tools like vaccines, therapeutics and pharmaceuticals diagnostic are available and you have to be aware that a huge amount of work is ongoing to develop these tools and to finalize research and development and many of them are in the third clinical phase for testing. Then our attention has to be on two issues. One is equitable access and fair allocation and this is a policy that we are taking forward with many organizations in partnership and the member states and the other one is to make sure that the health systems in the countries are ready to receive these tools and to roll them out. So this has to be a priority for all of us in the upcoming few months. And parallel to this we were extremely concerned in the last couple of months that many of the essential services and public health programs have been disrupted in the countries including immunization, including prevention and control of NCDs or infectious diseases or reproductive health services and similar. And now we have initiated a boost program which works with the governments to restart these initiatives and activities and here again the role of the women is critical. And my final comment is about communication. The women have an important role to play in communication particularly on issues like vaccine hesitancy because the women as mothers they want the best for their children. So it is very difficult to convince those who are in the philosophically don't believe in the vaccinations for example, but it is possible to gain the support of the women as mothers because they want the best for their children. So we have to use the women to the maximum in our communication messages. So this is from me Jacqueline. Back to you. Excellent. Thanks for underlining critical access to COVID-19 tools and the importance of communication and the role of women there. I just received a question before from Norway. Are you online or in the room? In the room. Sorry I didn't see you. Thank you chair and I apologize for barging in as you are beginning to wrap up, but we had in fact hope to be given the floor during the first round of statements. So I would just like to thank this panel for bringing so many perspectives into this dialogue and to share with you a few points on Norway's position to the response, the role of women in COVID-19 response and recovery. And we very much share the view that the response to this pandemic accentuates the 2030 agendas imperative of leaving no one behind and our common goal to end all forms of discrimination of women and girls. And as has been very clearly highlighted by this panel, it is essential that we apply a gender perspective in our multilateral and our national responses to COVID-19. The pandemic affects men and women, boys and girls differently and women must participate on an equal footing with men when needs and actions to combat the pandemic as well as recovering from it are defined. As we address the health aspects, we also need to focus on the socioeconomic consequences of the pandemic. On Norway's initiative, the UN Secretary General has launched a multi-partner trust fund to assist developing countries in responding to the adverse socioeconomic impact of the pandemic. National measures and financial incentives must respond to women's particular needs, including those of migrant women, their situation in the labour market and their role in the community and the family. Education is a priority for Norway and we were very encouraged in fact to hear from Egypt that girls were not dropping out in large numbers as schools reopen. We know that education for girls promotes gender equality, better health and more inclusive economic growth. UNESCO tells us that more than 11 million girls are at risk of not returning to school this year. Norway is deeply concerned about how school closures are directly related to an increased risk of early pregnancies, early marriage and sexual and gender-based violence. And we will continue working with our partners at country level to give girls and boys access to education. Close schools and severe economic effects underscore how the pandemic could reverse the progress made over the last 20 years towards ending child labour. Norway has therefore strengthened its efforts to combat child labour and other forms of modern slavery. We know that violence and harmful practices against women and girls increase in times of crisis. The UN expects that the pandemic will result in as many as 13 million child marriages between now and 10 years from now. Programs to prevent genital modulation are being delayed due to the pandemic and girls who are already affected by harmful practices are at risk of being further marginalised due to poor access to healthcare and other services. Ensuring sexual and reproductive health and rights is a high priority for Norway, also in the context of the COVID-19. We therefore continue to fund efforts to abolish harmful customs, to protect against sexual and gender-based violence and to provide access to sexual and reproductive health services in humanitarian crisis. I thank you. Thank you very much, Government of Norway, and thanks for reminding us of the Trust Fund. It also responds to the needs of migrant women and girls. Thank you very much. Can I now turn to you, Kristi Noe, for some comments and answers and thoughts following the interventions from the floor? Thank you very much, and I would like to thank all the intervenants for these really very interesting different perspectives that you brought to this table or to this discussion. I was really glad to hear Mexico, Philippines and Tunisia talking about the SDGs, because I think this is really, I mentioned earlier, the Beijing Declaration of Platform for Action, which is the overarching framework when it comes to policies. For gender equality and women's empowerment, and of course the SG just launched the Decade of Action to accelerate efforts to reach the SDGs and accelerate the implementation of the 2030 agenda, which is actually at risk. And as Tunisia quite rightly said, what we're discussing here today is right to the heart of leaving no one behind because migrant women really are part of the groups of people, of persons who are at risk of being left behind. So I really want to thank these delegations who brought us back to the essentials of the overarching and at the same time the overarching principles. With regards to the questions, many things have been said and a lot has been answered already, but perhaps from you and women's perspective, just to quickly also mention about gender-based violence. So we're working on gender-based violence in general now in times of COVID-19, but in particular also domestic violence, which is a very pressing and the concentrated space where we see this surge of violence. Perhaps I can just say that we are concentrating on a couple of points, which is on the first would be prevention and awareness raising. We have also heard that from Dr Morsi that it's really important to make sure and I think everyone is much more aware right now because there have been many awareness raising campaigns, including under the leadership of the Secretary General, which is actually continuing because there are very concerning numbers but it's not so clear yet how member states are actually in a position to address these raising numbers. And then you and women is engaged in supporting rapid assessments of domestic violence in different areas. And with regards to migrant workers, we have seen in the Asia Pacific region that women migrant workers who lost their job and are no longer able to support their family have been at particular risk of domestic violence. Then apart from that we heard it's also access to essential services, including to helplines and shelters there again. It's a huge challenge during these times since the women are locked in with the perpetrator of violence and controlled also communicating by phone, by other devices. It's very, very difficult. So this is also a target that we have to adapt and support organizations who provide these essential services to make sure that new lines are established or again that police and other enforcement authorities are really aware of these very specific challenges now we faced or increased challenges we face because of COVID. Another point I would just like to address also in the context of, I think that was, it's also in the context of the SDGs in general and assuming into migrant workers, the Philippines has mentioned this. So the whole question of social protection mechanisms but also the stimulus packages to make sure that they properly serve the women and girls who live in the countries where the stimulus packages are being mounted. And there again, we have also been active in four areas, working together with women owned enterprises in all countries, but then also focusing on economic areas, which are sectors which are very much impacted by COVID areas that are employing many, many women like tourism and hospitality. We haven't talked about this today. But then also training courses for women who own companies to train them how they can actually access the stimulus packages because then that's the other thing. Either the stimulus packages is gender responsive or if it isn't to make sure that women know how to access these funds. And to close, I would just like to echo what has been said by my co-speakers. A key point for all women but also for migrant women is really to have them at the table as we redefine, redesign the way we want to live and the way policies should be shaped when we go on with life hopefully in a time of the COVID. And there again, to have the migrant women at the table in bringing their experience to the decision shaping and the decision making. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, Christina, for this excellent closing remarks from you and women. We have, I think, two minutes left, so I will definitely not summarize this whole session. I just want to say that the panel and of course Excellencies distinguished the delegates in the room, you have been absolutely astonishing this morning. I think this was an excellent session. We went over a host of vulnerabilities that we have to look into from exclusion to social protection, exploitation, violence, poverty, discrimination, and so on. And I really want to pause with the enormous attention it went to violence, violence and mental, the need for emphasizing mental health. It's very sobering actually that we have to talk about violence today, but in this context, but very good that this was highlighted. Then we heard so much about the contributions, not migrant women and only as healthcare workers, but well beyond and their contributions to social economic development in general. Clearly, COVID-19 amplifies inequalities and vulnerabilities. Everybody said so. But what we also heard is that this dramatic crisis is offering us opportunities, all of us. We heard from Member States, UN, civil society and others about multidisciplinary, intergovernmental efforts. We heard about community-based approaches. We hold for calls for innovation, data, addressing the structural obstacles for migrant women and girls. We heard calls for solidarity. And all of this against the background of UHC, of development goals in general, of many resolutions, global health and migration platforms and agendas. It seems that the development and political platforms are in place, but it is for us to really now do the right thing that was mentioned by some of us. I know that we have to stop the session because, and this is going into what you just said, Christina, we have to hear the migrant stories. We have to also have the migrants at the table, so the next session will actually focus on that. I will close the session by saying nobody is safe until everybody is safe and leave no migrant women and girls behind. Thank you very much.