This paper is part of the "Beyond COVID-19: A feminist plan for sustainability and social justice" project, developed by UN Women
Introduction
Feminists and other advocates of social justice have long argued that global macroeconomic governance is deeply deficient. The deficiencies have been revealed and amplified by the COVID-19 crisis. The need to radically reconstruct the global economic governance architecture is therefore pressing. There are four reasons why this is the case. The first is the scale, speed and global reach of the COVID-19 crisis. The second is the fact that the crisis emerged in the historical context of unprecedented, overlapping and mutually reinforcing inequalities. Economic growth in the pre-pandemic period failed to improve the well-being and life chances of so many around the globe. The pandemic amplified existing inequalities, particularly for women, minoritized communities, communities whose livelihoods depend on the informal economy and those whose ability to thrive depend on the care economy. The pandemic also deepened inequalities between rich and poor nations.1 Third, the climate crisis presents an existential threat. Fourth, the foundations of postwar multilateralism, inadequate as it was, have been undermined by reactionary political movements in a number of national contexts. The erosion of multilateralism severely constrains the scope and character of responses to the COVID-19 crisis. Its decay also magnifies and extends the effects of the crisis, thereby threatening the life chances of billions of people around the globe.
