A MESSAGE FROM GRAÇA MACHEL

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Lockdown has impacted on the livelihoods of everyone, particularly women. Most African economies are informal, and this is where the majority of women work to provide for their families. It is in the formal economy that women are represented in very small and medium enterprises. Here they have also felt the shocks of the pandemic with some of these businesses closing and others struggling to survive. It quickly became clear to me that the impact of Covid-19 weighs very heavily on women. So, if you want to have any kind of redesigning or reconstruction of the system as a response to Covid-19, you need to bring the voices of women to the centre and listen to their aspirations.

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Graça Machel

Founder, The Graça Machel Trust and International Advocate for women and children’s rights