On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organisation classified COVID-19 as a pandemic. Disease outbreaks affect women, girls, men, boys, and persons of all genders differently, to say nothing of the wide variety of at-risk and marginalised groups. The compounding complexities of development and humanitarian contexts can have disproportionate effects on women and girls, as well as those at-risk and vulnerable groups. CARE International identified the need to highlight the gender and intersectional impacts of the COVID-19 crisis.

To achieve this, CARE first developed a policy brief to review lessons learned from previous public health emergencies. CARE then adapted its Rapid Gender Analysis toolkit to develop the Global Rapid Gender Analysis on COVID-19, conducted in consultation with the International Rescue Committee (IRC). This report is for humanitarians working in fragile contexts that are likely to be affected by the COVID-19 crisis. It is organised around broad themes and areas of focus of particular importance to those whose programming advances gender equality and reduces gender inequalities. It seeks to deepen the current gender analysis available by encompassing learning from global gender data available for the COVID-19 public health emergency.