Malagasy women pay a high price for the economic and social crisis caused by Covid-19. This is the observation of the CNFM, the National Council of Women in Madagascar. The organization, which brings together associations from across the country, warns of the situation of many Malagasy women who are already insecure and who have clearly worsened since the coronavirus pandemic: job losses, deteriorating health or even the resurgence of violence. .
With our correspondent Antananarivo,
Despite the deconfiguration and resumption of daily activities, Tina, 41, has not been able to regain her life before the coronavirus pandemic and her job as a babysitter. Sitting on the sidewalk, a large basin on her legs, she sells eggs to passersby
“Since I lost my job, I have done all the odd jobs I could find: delivering cans of water, washing clothes and there I sell eggs next to the road. My husband has no job. Women have suffered a lot from the crisis. It is they who do this kind of job to find the money that takes care of the children, preparing inhalations at night to protect the family from illness. “
Jobs in the informal sector, which is mainly occupied by women, notes the National Council of Women in Madagascar. A sector that suffered greatly from confinement. At the laundry in Amparibe in the center of the capital, laundresses like Dominique testify to this. She is raising her four children alone. The social assistance of 100,000 Ariary (23 euros) distributed by the state, which she received twice, did not allow her to keep her head above water.
“I could not work for almost five months. Now I wash clothes for one or two families, at most three, while I used to have five a day. We even lowered our prices to get customers. We sold everything we have at home: the television, the radio, the bed, the clothes, the plates, because there is rent to pay, but no salary. We have two pots and four plates left. “
Next door, Ginah, 30, saw three children, her relationship with her husband deteriorating. “We argued every day because there was no food. It is the women who think about everything the children have to eat. Men do not. My husband does not care. I found odd jobs, but he did not. Do housework, wash clothes to make some money. It is not men who do it. Women have to fend for themselves. ”
Madagascar’s National Council for Women asks the government to address the insecurity of women by taking them into account in its post-Covid-19 recovery policies. “Our role is to sound the alarm so that government agencies and technical and economic partners integrate gender into all recovery policies. In Madagascar, even before the Covid-19 health crisis, women were classified among the groups of vulnerable people, and the crisis has only exacerbated this vulnerability, so we are appealing to the state authorities to adopt a lot more social measures and measures to meet the special needs of women. We have specific needs for childbirth, family planning, the risk of unwanted pregnancies, abortion, violence against women, etc. ”, explains Estelle Andriamasy, President of CNFM.
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