MASKED - “Voices of Saint Lucian Women: The Impact of COVID-19”

They are small entrepreneurs in early childhood education; hospitality and agriculture - sharing their personal stories of the immediate and longer-term impact of COVID-19 which has resulted, in some cases, in them losing their jobs.



UN Women MCO Caribbean Programme Specialist-Economic Empowerment & Statistics, Isiuwa Iyahen, explains that before the pandemic hit, 57% of hospitality workers were women and 43% men. The region will not achieve economic resilience if half of the workforce is unemployed, or their unemployment rates continue to increase and so there is need she says, to invest in women’s economic security.



In the film, the women recount their challenging circumstances, but also how they were able to maintain livelihoods and some, how they were able to pivot to re-establish an income stream.

 The documentary is a part of the project UN Women is undertaking with the Ministry of Equity and Social Justice in St. Lucia under the Joint SDG Fund on Adaptive Social Protection which is being implemented by UN Women MCO Caribbean, UNICEF Office for the Eastern Caribbean Area, UNDP Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, World Food Programme (WFP) and ILO Caribbean office. Find out more about this project here: http://ow.ly/HhY130rLyUd.