Fostering Sustainable and Resilient Recovery from COVID-19 in South Asia

On behalf of SAWDF, President, of the South Asian Women Development Forum (SAWDF), Nepal Ms. Pramila Acharya Rijal participated as one of the speakers at the international webinar on “Fostering Sustainable and Resilient Recovery from COVID-19 in South Asia” organized jointly by UNESCAP and the Government of Maldives on 2nd-3rd December. H.E. Mr. Mohamed Aslam, Minister of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, Maldives, and H.E. Mr. Esala Ruwan Weerakoon, Secretary-General of SAARC, jointly launched the South Asia Network on the SDGs project. 

Ms. Rijal spoke on the ways the pandemic has intensified existing challenges for women’s economic empowerment in South Asia and how to pursue gender-inclusive economic response/ recovery. A key presentation on COVID-19 and Multidimensional Poverty in South Asia was done by Dr. Sabina Alkire, Director, of Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), Oxford  University  

Other panelists were:

• Dr. Srinivas Tata, Director, Social Development Division, UNESCAP 
• Mr. Nomaan Majid, Senior Employment Specialist, ILO Decent Work Technical Support Team for South Asia, New Delhi 
• H.E. Dr. Shabnum Sarfraz, Member (Social Sector), Planning Commission, Pakistan 
• Dr. Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director, Centre for Policy Dialogue, Bangladesh 
• Dr. Uchita de Zoysa, Chairman – Global Sustainability Solutions (GLOSS) and Executive Director – Centre for Environment & Development (CED), Sri Lanka  

 The session was moderated by H.E member (GED), Planning Commission, Bangladesh