The impact of Covid-19 on the everyday life of men and women has been different and brought yet again forward gender inequalities. Women make up 70 % of health workers and are more likely to work in the informal sector. They are thus at the frontline of this crisis. Plus, available data from certain countries suggests an increase in domestic violence cases during the imposed lockdown.

While IOs and NGOs have encouraged states to take specific measures to protect women, governments have only adopted very few concrete measures in this regard. Moreover, it is also worth asking how the chosen indicators to measure domestic violence actually reflect women's reality. More generally, the lack of data does not allow us to understand the needs of women and the consequences of policies in place. In order to formulate and implement effective policy to address gender inequality, reliable and readily accessible gender-disaggregated data is necessary.

Why? Because if it is not possible to distinguish what the different issues are and where they are to be found, no government can respond effectively. In practice, this problem is exacerbated by the extraordinary situation caused by Covid-19. Indeed, as the situation is changing quickly and often, it cannot be captured by “standard” indicators.

Action should be taken at both international and national level. Cooperation within the international community needs to be intensified in the face of challenges such as pandemics. A first step would surely be to gain a better understanding of gender issues as it would allow governments to swiftly adopt adequate and good policy. It would imply the implementation of new tools, creating new indicators, and the integration of a gender perspective in the existing tools. Thus we would be able to to adapt quickly to ever changing circumstances.