Institute of Social Studies Trust, in association with Heinrich Boll Stiftung, cordially invites you to the

XXXII Gender and Economic Policy Discussion Forum on “Gendered Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Associated Lockdown: The readjustment of women's labour”.

Institute of Social Studies Trust, in collaboration with the Heinrich Boll Stiftung, has been organizing these forums for the last 8 years and 2020 marks the ninth iteration in this series. For more information on our previous forums please click here. 

Usually organized in the form of a half-day panel discussion ending with lunch, this year we have decided to go online. 

The topic has been planned keeping in mind the COVID-19 pandemic situation which has heavily impacted the most vulnerable livelihood groups in the informal economy. Domestic workers, construction worker, waste pickers, sex workers and several other marginalized groups have all been impacted in different ways. Moreover, the process of people withdrawing back to their homes and villages has led to a manifold increase in unpaid invisible forms of labour that are usually distributed unequally across genders. The pandemic has shed light on the urgent need for an intersectional approach to gender politics that integrates the politics of caste, queerness and informality while examining issues of livelihood. For this reason we have designed a diverse panel consisting of individuals/organizations that work across scales on issues pertaining to several of these marginalized groups. We hope to draw out tangible and pertinent policy asks in addition to building evidence towards many invisible gendered implications of the pandemic.

The online forum is scheduled for August 25, 2020 from 6 PM to 7:15 PM via Zoom. Please click on this link to register for the event. Registration is free. 

Please find attached to this mail the invite and concept note which provide further details regarding the discussion theme, speakers and perspectives which we hope to touch upon. We request you to RSVP to this invite by clicking here. 

Please share and spread this invitation in your networks as we look forward to a diverse audience that brings forth their own questions and perspectives on the theme

It would also be great to hear your thoughts on the theme for this discussion and any suggestions that you may have for our future discussions organized as part of this forum series. Please feel free to comment below or get in touch with me via email for any comments/suggestions