Gender & COVID - Part I: IWD21 in retrospect
Updated: Jun 2, 2021
2021: I really DID have high hopes for this year - not that I thought COVID would be over, but I hoped that we would be coming over the hill for it at least.
And then... on a global scale, aside from COVID, we saw so much happen in the first three months of the year, alone.
There was the:
Venezuelan Humanitarian and Refugee Crisis / Jan 18, 2021
U.S. Civil Unrest / Jan 21, 2021
Sulawesi (Indonesia) Earthquake / Jan 28, 2021
Rohingya Refugee Crisis / Jan 29, 2021
Yemen Humanitarian Crisis / Feb 9, 2021.
And the situation in Myanmar was getting more convoluted by the day, as we watched the situation unfold since Aung San Suu Kyi's arrest after the February 1 coup.
How about a little closer to home?
At the Pacific level, given March was still cyclone season (1 November to 30 April), we had already had four disturbances that intensified into tropical depressions, forming in the South Pacific region, with Ana and Bina intensifying into tropical cyclones. On the first of March, Lucas also affected New Caledonia and Vanuatu.
Climate Change: Pacific governments call for urgent action on disaster displacement in light of the climate crisis
And on a personal level...
... we had more tragic deaths in my family, in the first two months of the year than the whole of 2020 combined.
On a global scale, personal issues pale in comparison - but didn't someone say 'Comparison is the thief of all joy'? And isn't this just comparing tragedies? Not having that.