Recipients of the Women RISE research initiative announced
Around the world, women and girls have disproportionately suffered from the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19. Women have borne the brunt of layoffs and loss of livelihoods, sacrificed their own health at the frontlines of the pandemic response and disproportionately shouldered the burden of the additional caregiving associated with COVID-19.
Women's health and economic empowerment for a COVID-19 Recovery that is Inclusive, Sustainable and Equitable (Women RISE) is a Canadian initiative that was launched in March 2022 by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), in partnership with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), to address these impacts of COVID-19.
On November 22, the recipients of the Women RISE research initiative were announced at the Canadian Conference on Global Health in Toronto. The 23 successful teams will receive $24 million to support their research into the relationships between women's work and health, before, during and after COVID-19.
The generated evidence will inform immediate and medium-term solutions for post-COVID-19 recovery that will improve gender equality and health equity outcomes in low- and middle-income communities in Canada and globally.
The research projects supported by Women RISE involve 18 Canadian institutions in collaboration with 17 from Asia (4 funded projects), Africa (14 funded projects), Latin America and the Caribbean (4 funded projects), and the Middle East and North Africa (1 funded project).
More specifically, researchers and decision-makers in Argentina, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nigeria, Peru, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Uganda are collaborating with Canadian researchers and institutions in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.
Of the 23 Women RISE projects, one focuses on infectious diseases, two projects concentrate on HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections, and 15 projects address pandemics and other health emergencies.
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