Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct
answer to each of the questions.
There has been significant progress made in the field of gender equality over the last few decades. On the positive side, more girls are attending school while fewer girls are forced into early marriage. More women occupy senior positions in organizations, and government legislation has been introduced to promote gender equality. However, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has set back this limited progress. Specifically, this challenging time aggravates the existing issues of gender discrimination in almost all aspects of life, from the economy to health and social protection. As a direct consequence of lockdowns, school closures, and the increased needs of the elderly, women’s unpaid care work has risen significantly. Moreover, as women usually work in the informal economic sector, where jobs are more insecure, they are more likely to be harder hit by the outbreak and more vulnerable to decreased income, unemployment, and poverty. More sadly, research reveals that for those who have long been suffering from violent acts, lockdown measures exacerbate the situation by trapping women at home with their abusers while they struggle to seek support from services suffering from budget cuts. Taking all this into consideration, the United Nations Secretary-General urged governments to place women and girls at the heart of their recovery measures to enable a quicker and more sustainable recovery. Hopefully, the COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity for more positive actions to address long-term existing gender inequalities and empower women in all areas of their lives.
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