UNHCR reported that the pandemic is threatening the lives and rights of refugee, displaced and stateless women and girls. The socio-economic impacts of the pandemic are leaving many lives in peril, with gender-based violence, forced marriages, child labour and adolescent pregnancies growing, according to UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi.
The international community must step up and help protect the rights of refugee women and girls. This requires support for humanitarian programmes and also the expansion of education, vocational and self-reliance initiatives, and implementation through socio-economic relief packages being designed and implemented by governments.
Around 85% of refugees are hosted in developing nations. They are largely dependent on humanitarian aid or day labour.
Also, many girls are being forced to drop out of school and into work, are sold off or married, according to the UNHCR’s protection chief, Gillian Triggs. An additional 13 million girls are now at risk of forced marriages as a result of the pandemic. Increased household demands are also diminishing their opportunities for education.
In the meantime, prevention and response programmes remain completely underfunded.
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