With the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have introduced measures to contain the spread of the virus. This was often followed by policy packages to mitigate the effect of the COVID-19 containment measures. The impact of the containment measures was gendered, exacerbating gender inequalities. The design of the mitigation policy measures did not always take into account the different constraints facing women and men in the market and the domestic space. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the critical role of care work for the functioning of the economy - an issue that feminist economists have flagged long before the pandemic.

After the initial response to the pandemic, countries have turned to designing medium-term programmes and strategies to revitalise and transform their economies. It is imperative that these strategies are not gender-blind. This plenary session will discuss the opportunities and challenges associated with incorporating a feminist strategy in post-COVID-19 recovery plans. Some of the issues that will be discussed are: How should feminist economists take advantage of this moment to be part of the process of programme and policy design? What are the challenges to moving beyond rhetoric to reality in the implementation of feminist strategies included in policy documents? How can these challenges be surmounted?

CHAIR
Abena D. Oduro | University of Ghana

SPEAKERS
Crystal Simeoni | Director, NAWI Africa
James Heintz | University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Corinna Rodriquez-Enriquez | CONICET-CIEPP-DAWN, Argentina
Paul Ladd | Director, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)