IN BRIEF

THE PRIVATE SECTOR’S ROLE IN MITIGATINGTHE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON VULNERABLE
WOMEN AND GIRLS IN NIGERIA
Photos © UN Women Nigeria

Introduction
In recent weeks, the Nigerian private sector has
assumed a leading role in the fight against theCOVID-19 pandemic in the country. On March 27, thePrivate Sector Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID)1,spearheaded by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Aliko
Dangote Foundation and Access Bank, was establishedto mobilize private sector resources towards
supporting the government’s response to the crisis.

CACOVID will also help mobilize private sector

thought leadership, raise public awareness and buy-infor COVID-19 prevention, and provide direct support tostrengthen the healthcare sector’s capacity to respondto the crisis. To date, CACOVID has mobilized around
NGN 26 billion (USD 72 billion), 22% of its NGN 120
billion target, from private sector organizations

including GTBank, UBA, IHS, the African FinanceCorporation, Lafarge Africa, Access Bank, the Dangote
Group and the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation.

In Nigeria, a month-long lockdown has been in placein Lagos and Ogun States and the Federal Capital
Territory, Abuja since 31 March. Lagos State is theeconomic hub of the country, and it is also theepicenter of the pandemic with 55% percent of all
confirmed cases (as of 22 April).
While most of CACOVID’s partner companies arelarge, resourced corporations with the technologicaland logistical capabilities to maintain business
continuity by moving work offsite, the vast majorityof businesses in Nigeria lack this advantage.
However, many of these much smaller businesses area crucial part of the private sector’s supply chain,
without which, larger corporations cannot survive.
They consist of a multitude of micro, small andmedium enterprises (MSMEs) from the smallholder
farmers who supply agricultural inputs to foodprocessing conglomerates, to the street vendors who

COVID-19 Poses a Significant Threat to Private
Sector Activity
The private sector has a direct stake in limiting theoutbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. Unlike
any other crisis in living memory, the pandemic istaking an unprecedented and direct toll on businessactivity in all sectors. Drastic but necessary containment
measures to curb the spread of the virus have seen
lockdowns and travel restrictions imposed across theglobe, disrupting supply chains and abruptly halting
business and employment for millions of people.

distribute products for the fast-moving consumer
goods sector. Moreover, many of these MSMEs arewomen-owned businesses. In the formal sector,
women account for 47.8 percent of MSME
entrepreneurs but many more operate within theinformal sector where over 82 percent of women areemployed.

Importance of Increasing the Gender Sensitivityof CACOVID’s Response• With more women in low-paying, insecure, informal

It is vital to ensure that gender is mainstreamed into

COVID-19 pandemic will disproportionately affect

CACOVID’s priorities at this early stage of its existence.
Thus far, the Coalition’s focus has been on strengthening
the healthcare response to the crisis by providing
funding to expand and strengthen medical facilities inwork, the sharp spike in unemployment from thewomen. In Kenya, 60 percent of all job losses recorded
since the crisis were held by women. Additionally,women still in employment disproportionately occupy
jobs on the frontlines of the pandemic as nurses,

the six geographical zones of the country. This includes:

cleaners, supermarket cashiers, and market traders,• The creation of testing, isolation and treatment

families.

centers;• The provision of Intensive Care Units (ICUs); and• The establishment of molecular testing labs.
While these are urgent priorities, neglecting the uniqueand unequal (near- and long-term) impacts of thepandemic on women and girls, risks leaving themfurther behind on the journey towards sustainabledevelopment.
• As health resources are diverted to address thepandemic, women also face additional challenges toaccessing sexual and reproductive health services at atime when sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV)and violence against women (VAW) are on the rise.
Reporting from 24 states across Nigeria shows thatthe number of reported incidents of domestic violence
spiked by 56 percent during the first two weeks ofApril compared with the same period in March, after
lockdown measures were enacted on 31 March. InLagos State, cases of domestic violence have surged byover 100 percent during the lockdown period (as of 14April) compared with the number of cases reported forthe entire month of March.
• The already unequal burden of childcare and domestic
work is exacerbated under quarantine as schools closeand securing the family’s health becomes imperative.
This includes increased time spent fetching water for
handwashing protocols and other arduous duties,
which can create additional stressors on women’s
mental and emotional wellbeing.

risking their health and safety, as well as those of their• School closures are already having a severe impact inNigeria with long-term consequences for humancapital accumulation and talent acquisition. Female
students are particularly at risk and for many girls, afew months’ absence from school could mean the endof their education, particularly if family resources
remain under strain in the aftermath of the crisis. They
may also be excluded from the very limited availabilityof distance-learning opportunities as boys’ education isprioritized due to ingrained cultural norms. The adverse
impact on girls’ education could also lead to an increasein early marriage in communities where this practice isalready prevalent.

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Private Sector Strategies For Supporting
Vulnerable Women And Girls Amid Covid-19

Companies which contribute at least NGN1 billion naira

There is scope to incorporate a gender perspective into

presenting an opportunity to address this imbalance

CACOVID’s response to COVID-19 by ensuring thatgoing forward.

are eligible to join the Coalition’s steering committees,

gender is proactively built into its thought leadershipand advocacy functions, and that gender dimensions
are embedded within existing funding programmes.
In particular, UN Women recommends that 20 percent
of CACOVID’s overall resources be dedicated tosupporting the humanitarian and socio-economic
recovery needs of the most vulnerable women andgirls affected by the crisis. Of this amount, werecommend that 10 percent is allocated to address thespecific health challenges women are likely to face asa result of the pandemic, including increasingprotection for women on the frontlines of efforts tocombat the disease and increasing resources available
for victims of increased SGBV. The remaining 10percent can be used to shield vulnerable women fromthe economic fallout of the crisis.
Some CACOVID partners, such as Famfa Oil Limited,
have already demonstrated the feasibility of this
proposal by earmarking part of their donations fortargeted vulnerable groups. In this case, Famfa Oil
allocated NGN50 million of its NGN1 billion donation
to the National Commission for Refugee Migrants andInternally Displaced Persons, the majority of whom are
women and children. Prospective donors can emulate
this example by devoting significant portions of theirdonations towards protecting the health, safety andeconomic wellbeing of vulnerable women affected by
COVID-19.
Donors can also push for greater female representation
within CACOVID’s steering committees2 to facilitate

Recommended Mitigation Measures On TheImpact Of Women And Girls By The Private
SectorSpecific measures private sector companies can take tomitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on
women and girls include:• Signing up to the UN Women/UN Global Compact
Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) to showcommitment to gender equality and women’s
empowerment in the workplace, marketplace andcommunity. This is even more important during
COVID-19, as it ensures that a gender perspective will beincluded in your company’s response to the pandemic.
• Ensuring women and men are given equal time off forchildcare responsibilities to help reduce the burden ofchildcare responsibilities on women and change societal
norms that allocate these roles almost exclusively tothem.
• Invest in expanding flexible working arrangements for
women and men including provision of technology andequipment for disadvantaged workers.
• Support women-owned businesses, particularly in theinformal sector, with affirmative procurement toprovide essential supplies during the crisis such as facemasks, hand sanitizers and other protective equipment.
• Make supporting gender equality and women’s
empowerment, including ending SGBV and VAW, acentral pillar of your company’s Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) activities, including contributing
donations to organizations and agencies at the forefrontof delivering Sustainable Development Goal 5 on
empowering all women and girls such as UN Women andand the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Social
Development in Nigeria.

greater gender sensitivity and inclusion in itsinterventions. Just 3 out of 19 members on theCoalition’s three steering committees are women,
including zero representation on the core Funding
Committee3. Research shows that when more womenare represented in decision-making positions, moreresources are allocated to social issues that benefit all.

1 See: www.cacovid.org
2 CACOVID’s taskforce consists of: 1. The Funding Committee, which is responsible
for providing and raising funds for CACOVID’s Relief Fund; 2. The TechnicalCommittee, which is responsible for intellectural leadership around testing issues,
treatment protocols and isolation centers; and 3. The Operational

3 Committee, which is responsible for logistics and communications.

Current members of the Funding Committee are: 1. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of

the Central Bank of Nigeria, Aliko Dangote, Chairman of Dangote Industries, Herbert
Wigwe, CEO of Access Bank, Jim Ovia, Chairman of Zenith Bank, Tony Elumelu