The COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to control it have threatened livelihoods, introduced new workplace risks and made unstable work relationships even more precarious, especially for women. In this context, the Centre for Population and Environmental Development and the University of Windsor will generate robust policy-relevant evidence on rural women and girls’ lives before, during and after COVID-19 periods in Nigeria and the impact on rural women’s inequality status. Their key research question is: What are the context-specific challenges which impact women’s lives before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic? The data will be collected using mixed quantitative and qualitative methods, including life histories and photovoice methods, and will be used to generate robust policy-relevant evidence and to promote the integration of context-specific innovative strategies on gender equality and women’s access to essential health into gender-transformative policies on COVID-19 response and recovery. The research will be carried out in the Edo and Delta States of Nigeria.
Expected results includes:
The University of Ibadan and the Douglas Hospital Research Centre (Montreal) will study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other disruptive events on the work and well-being of self-employed young women vis-à-vis self-employed young men, using qualitative interviews, secondary data analysis and digital storytelling. The co-production with self-employed young women, using policy analysis, focus group discussions and theory of change workshops, will see the piloting and evaluation of the intervention planned to provide co-produced, actionable solutions to mitigate the effects of these disruptors on their work and well-being. The research will be primarily conducted in Oyo State in southwestern Nigeria.
