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AMMAN — “The economic consequences of crises are never experienced equally. Women across the Arab States are already navigating some of the world’s lowest rates of labour force participation, high levels of informal work and limited access to social protection,” UN Women Regional Director for the Arab States Moez Doraid said.
He added “Without deliberate measures to protect women’s livelihoods and access to decent work, this crisis risks deepening inequalities and reversing important progress on women’s economic empowerment across the region.”
Doraid noted that women in the Arab region have historically been concentrated in the public sector, particularly in health, education and public administration, according to an UN Women Arab States office's statement.
“As countries face tighter fiscal conditions in response to the crisis, the risk is not dramatic layoffs, as is often the case in the private sector, but a gradual erosion of employment through hiring freezes, wage compression and salary arrears,” Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) Acting Deputy Executive Secretary Mehrinaz El Awady said.
“A crisis that pushes women out of the labour force is not just a social setback; it is a macroeconomic one.”
The policy brief also warns that women working in the informal economy remain particularly vulnerable because of their limited access to employment contracts, social protection, unemployment benefits and income security.
It adds that women-led enterprises face heightened risks during periods of economic stress, as tighter credit conditions and structural barriers to finance limit their ability to sustain operations and retain employees.
The brief calls for urgent and targeted measures to protect women’s livelihoods and prevent long-term economic and social setbacks.
Its recommendations include expanding income protection and emergency support for women employed in the informal and private sectors, safeguarding education and health budgets, protecting women-led enterprises from tighter credit conditions, preventing public sector hiring freezes from disproportionately affecting young women, and strengthening sex-disaggregated labour market monitoring.
The brief stresses that protecting women’s employment is essential not only for advancing gender equality, but also for supporting economic recovery, social stability and long-term development across the region, according to a statement of the UN Women regional office.
