Voices of Saint Lucian Women: A study of the impact of COVID-19 on frontline workers, small entrepreneurs, pre-school teachers and hospitality workers

Voices of Saint Lucian Women: COVI19 Impact Study

Author(s)/editor(s)

Julie Xavier, PhD, Gender and Social Protection Consultant

To ascertain the possible gender and social protection implications of the pandemic, UN Women together with the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice, Local Government and Empowerment of Saint Lucia embarked on a study entitled, “The Impact of COVID-19 on Women in Saint Lucia: A rapid appraisal of the situation of frontline workers, small entrepreneurs, pre-school teachers and hospitality workers”.

The purpose of the study was to:

assess the impact of the coronavirus on women in various sectors in Saint Lucia;
understand the coping strategies employed by women in response to the crisis;
provide evidence-based guidelines for the development of effective social protection support to women adversely affected by the crisis.

The research for this study began in earnest in July 2020 and continued to the end of October 2020, just prior to the start of the country’s second wave of coronavirus cases. This timeframe is important because it provides a very specific context to the study, which was conducted within a much broader and dynamic timeframe, replete with changes in COVID-19 numbers, protocols and policies. This document represents a report on the study, highlighting the research design and methods employed, the main findings, and analytical implications of the research and the key recommendations from the findings.

The study was carried out under the “Enhancing Resilience and Acceleration of the SDGs in the Eastern Caribbean: Universal Adaptive Social Protection” Joint Programme. The Joint Programme under the framework of the United Nations Sub-Regional Team for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is funded by the SDG Social Protection Fund and is being implemented in Saint Lucia by the United Nations’ Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme, United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).