Voices of Saint Lucia Women: Study Launched on the Impact of COVID-19 on Women in Various Sectors

"Voices of Saint Lucian Women: A study of the impact of COVID-19 on frontline workers, small entrepreneurs, pre-school teachers and hospitality workers"  by  Author/ Editor Julie Xavier, PhD, Gender and Social Protection Consultant seeks to ascertain the possible gender and social protection implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The purpose of the study, which was carried out under the United Nations' "Enhancing Resilience and Acceleration of the SDGs in the Eastern Caribbean: Universal Adaptive Social Protection” Joint Programme sought to :  

• assess the impact of the coronavirus on women in various sectors in Saint Lucia;
• understand the coping strategies employed by women in response to the crisis;
• provide evidence-based guidelines for the development of effective social protection support to women adversely affected by the crisis.

Research for the study began in earnest in July 2020 and continued to the end of October 2020, just prior to the start of the country’s second wave of coronavirus cases. This timeframe is important because it provides a very specific context to the study, which was conducted within a much broader and dynamic timeframe, replete with changes in COVID-19 numbers, protocols and policies.

This document represents a report on the study, highlighting the research design and methods employed, the main findings, and analytical implications of the research and the key recommendations from the findings.

The Social Protection Joint Programme, under the framework of the United Nations Sub-Regional Team for  Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, is funded by the SDG Social Protection Fund and is being implemented in Saint Lucia by the United Nations’ Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Joint Programmes are improving the lives of over 5.4 M people all over the world, and are central to the  UN Reform toolkit, and the Agency's collective efforts to Leave No One behind (LNOB) and ensure a more prosperous future for all. 

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Voices of Saint Lucian Women: A study of the impact of COVID-19 on frontline workers, small entrepreneurs, pre-school teachers and hospitality workers (PDF, 1.63 MB)

Bibliographic information

Geographic coverage: Latin America and the Caribbean

Subject areas: COVID-19 Crisis response and recovery

Resource type(s): Case studies

UN Women office publishing: Multi-Country Office – Caribbean

Publication year

2022

Publishing entity/ies: United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women)