Social Work Practice: Accounting for Double Injustices Experienced by Women Under the Confluence of Covid-19 Pandemic and Climate Change Impacts in Nyanga, Zimbabwe

Abstract

In this paper, the researchers argue that the repercussions of the Coronavirus Disease 19 pandemic are taking a toll on rural women, not as a new phenomenon, but as an amplifier for their historical calamities dovetailed by climate change. The declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation ignited widespread pronouncements of national state of disasters in various countries around the globe including Zimbabwe. Subsequently, like other countries, Zimbabwe followed the precautionary measures outlined by the WHO and pronounced its national lockdown to curtail the transmission of the virus. This paper intends to demonstrate how convergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change impacts serves as a double injustice for rural women in Nyanga communities, Zimbabwe. The study was qualitative in nature guided by the descriptive research design. Twenty participants comprising rural women and social workers were selected using purposive and convenience sampling techniques. Data were collected using focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The Thematic Content Analysis was followed to analyse the data from which the findings were derived. This study established that the COVID-19 pandemic is enhancing the catastrophic implications created by climate change on rural women whose food security systems are shattered, livelihood strategies maimed, caregiving roles burgeoning, and access to healthcare systems compromised. This daunting double impact is aggravated by gender inequalities, social exclusion and patriarchal dominance. The centrality of social justice to social work connotes that the profession has a tendentious responsibility to stand in the gap and liberate women from the jaws of these double catastrophes (climate change and COVID-19).

Understanding Needs and Potentials for Gender-Balanced Empowerment and Leadership in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in Africa

“…It is worth mentioning that 'COVID-19 and the associated terms/keywords were not included in any cluster, meaning that the number of works in this domain with a connection to the COVID-19 pandemic is still significantly low, even though there are works on climate change-gender without connection to leadership/empowerment, e.g., [105][106][107].…”

“…One such global emergency is COVID-19 and its impacts. The pandemic unveiled and further amplified existing climate change vulnerabilities, including those related to gender inequalities [106,126,127]. Furthermore, there has been a concern that the pandemic might undermine actions taken towards climate change mitigation and reduction of gender imbalances [128][129][130].…”

Development and validation of a lockdown preparedness scale: Understanding lockdown preparedness through a social vulnerability perspective

“…Since its development, the SVT has been applied across various contexts, from hazards and natural disasters studies to more recent ones, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, Nyahunda et al [ 30 ] adopted the SVT to investigate how climate change can have adverse impact on rural women in Zimbabwe during the pandemic. The study found that social vulnerability factors, such as gender inequalities and social exclusion, aggravated the catastrophic consequences (e.g., food insecurities and lack of access to healthcare) suffered by rural women and caused by climate change.…”

Responsibility of States About Pandemic COVID-19: International Law Review

“…The mechanism offered in The Charter of the UN is an indication that a peaceful mechanism can be carried out and is considered detrimental during Covid-19 (Nyahunda et al, 2021). Through the mechanism of mediation, investigation/conciliation, including officers under the UN General Assembly mechanism, it is hoped that non-judicial efforts can still be an option that would be chosen by the parties.…”