Women are leading – institutions need to catch up.

By Kalkidan Yihun & Emily Janoch

"I was able to overcome my silence, and I was the first to mobilize the women. Our voices were heard by the authorities, who agreed to patrol every night to prevent men from entering our houses. This was my greatest achievement; I was not afraid or slowed down by anyone. I spoke in public and in front of everyone in order to defend our rights". These are the words of a woman from Niger who participated in CARE's Women Lead in Emergencies program. She is one example of how women leaders stand up and support their communities.  

Although we often talk about women from the perspectives of the challenges and impacts they experience, and the barriers they face, we should never forget that women are leaders in their households and communities. More often, women are the first responders to a crisis, and they are critical support systems for their families and communities. 

We have to stop pretending that women can do it alone. We are piecing together local and global responses to crisis on the assumption that women will lead (as long as they don’t participate in formal leadership roles), earn incomes (as long as men are prioritized for jobs as breadwinners), take on extra childcare and unpaid care and take care of sick people when health systems falter, without changing the systems that hold women back. 

Often, these women are not only standing up to lead in crisis, they also have to actively fight the systems that are supposed to support them. Despite their undeniable role and resilience in responding to crisis, women and girls continue to take a heavy toll during a crisis, their voices more likely to be ignored in decision-making, and their safety, mobility, and rights further strained.  Just as women took on more and more leadership to cope with the COVID-19 crises and compounded impacts, more and more institutions—from financial institutions to employers to national and global policy makers—focused away from women and their rights. According to CARE's recent report, Her Voice: Listening to Women in Action, global crises are widening gender inequalities. According to World Economic Forum, the impact of COVID-19 increased the gender gap from 99.5 years to 135.6 years in 2021, pushing the possibility of achieving women's rights and equality by a whole generation. COVID-19, climate change, and conflict affect livelihood, food security, mental health, and safety, and women are disproportionately affected in all impact areas.  

Here's how that plays out in just one sector: food security. Women are leading, and institutions are lagging. Against the odds, women and women leaders are increasingly taking action. Based on data from nine countries, CARE's report shows that 64% of women are taking action to address food security in their households, compared to 50% of men. Regardless of their crucial role in food production and preparation, women and girls still eat last and the least. In addition to gender norms that limit women and girls' access to food, women are also forgotten in food policies. A recent CARE review of global food policies of 86 documents, 26% of them overlook women entirely, and 47% do not mention gender inequality.  

"A woman that eats before serving her husband is considered a bad woman, who does not care about her husband other than filling her stomach." (participant in Ethiopia). 

This is true well beyond food security; it happens in many sectors. Women and girls face increasing risks of insecurity and violence in their homes and communities. As economic pressure and food insecurity rise, women face domestic violence, and especially young girls face the risk of forced and early marriage. In Mozambique, respondents reported increased GBV and conflict in the household among IDP populations; food distribution also creates tension and fighting. In communities affected by drought and conflict, women are increasingly becoming the sole providers in their households. From conflict impacts in Sudan, Nigeria, and Ukraine, to the effects of drought in Morocco, women are taking the role of breadwinners. Despite their shifting role, gender and social norms didn't shift. Now, women face heavier work burdens as they are expected to generate income and perform domestic tasks. 

Women's leadership is not limited to their homes and families; they are also helping to lead community responses. Women, especially in groups, are leading in action. Community-level responses by women at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic are one recent example of how women mobilize, support and lead through crisis, despite limited support from institutions. CARE's HER Voice report shows that, although women are leading on the ground, compounded crises further limit their engagement in formal decision-making. In Uganda, CARE assessment shows that women in refugee and IDP settings are less likely to participate in community response mechanisms than men. In Ukraine, regardless of the great leadership women took on the ground to mobilize and volunteer to sustain critical services and aid in formal decision-making, they are less likely to participate and have an influence. 

Complex crises combined with long-standing discriminatory practices and gender norms continue to stall progress toward equity. Still, women are leading on the ground and are critical agents in addressing poverty, food insecurity, climate change, and conflict. Unfortunately, formal and informal institutions are still behind; in fact, in crisis, gender norms and harmful and discriminatory practices get stricter for women and girls; formal mechanisms, which often limit women’s access, shrink even further at times of crisis. The lack of institutional-level support affects the progress women strive to achieve, worsens their conditions, and minimizes their leadership. It sets response and recovery even further behind. Women are already doing the heavy lifting, and institutions must do better to listen to and support them in their leadership.   

Check out the full report and summary brief of key findings.