Tag: pakistan

IRC: Women in Conflict Zones Under-tested for COVID-19

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Data collected by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) reveals mostly men are testing positive for COVID-19 in conflict-affected countries like Somalia, Pakistan, and Yemen. The figures released on Wednesday are fuelling concerns that COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, is spreading silently among women struggling to access already limited testing and treatment facilities in parts of the Middle East and Africa.

The IRC reports that in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen, Chad, and Central African Republic the disparities are particularly worrying, with over 70% of COVID-19 cases having been detected in men, and 30% or less in women. Those figures are in stark contrast to the ratio in Europe, for example, where it is roughly a 50/50 split between men and women. 

“This data suggests women are being under tested for COVID-19 in many places where the IRC works,” said IRC Senior Technical Advisor of Emergency Health Stacey Mearns. “Both men and women in conflict-affected countries experience great difficulty in accessing healthcare, but data shows women have a slimmer chance of seeing a doctor than men in countries such as Pakistan.”

Mearns says that in countries where the disparity is at play, women may not have the same freedom of movement as men but often perform caring roles and are front-line workers, placing them at equal or higher risk of contracting the highly contagious virus.

“The numbers do not add up. What we are seeing is a situation in which women are potentially being left out of testing and their health deprioritized,” Mearns argued in a June 24 press release. 

“There is a need for a major increase in testing for everyone in the countries where we work, but we must pay particular attention to ensure women are getting equal access to testing and health care.”

The United Nations has also warned that as with conflict situations, the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to deepen pre-existing inequalities between men and women and could undo limited gender equality gains made in recent years. 

“Across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the impacts of COVID-19 are exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of their sex,” the UN said on April 9 when it released a policy brief detailing the impacts of COVID-19 on women.

In addition to unequal access to health care, women around the world have been subject to an alarming increase in domestic and family violence exacerbated by virus lockdowns, and data shows women have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 job cuts.  

The IRC says it needs an additional $30 million to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and support for its efforts to improve female education and access to COVID-19 testing and treatment. 

Read also: Fighting Continues in South Yemen Despite Ceasefire

Qatar Under Fire as 2022 FIFA World Cup Workers Await Payment

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Workers building the Al Bayt Stadium went without pay for seven months as their employer, Qatar Meta Coats (QMC), failed to compensate them. Qatar’s World Cup organizing body has banned QMC from obtaining further contracts for world cup projects and required the company to pay three months of salaries owed. 

Despite the progress many workers are still owed wages. Many were unable to renew their work permits after the company was sold and new management came in to resolve the payments issue. 

The Pakistani government has raised concerns with the Qatari Ministry of Labor over the mistreatment and non-payment of approximately 80,000 Pakistani workers contributing to the effort to build stadiums, roads, and accommodation. In addition to individual workers, Pakistani company Descon claims that Qatari authorities failed to pay them for their services, a concern which Pakistani officials have also raised. 

Amnesty International has long sought to highlight the plight of migrant workers in Qatar running a campaign entitled “Qatar World Cup of Shame.” On the issue of non-payment of wages, Amnesty’s Head of Economic and Social Justice, Steven Cockburn, said, “This case is the latest damning illustration of how easy it still is to exploit workers in Qatar.” 

Amnesty has also questioned why, if Qatar knew about non-payment issues from July, 2019, as the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy has indicated, the government allowed the employer to continue to exploit workers for months.

Pakistani workers have said they lost their jobs after reporting non-payment to Qatari authorities, creating fear among workers to speak out and underlining the inadequacies in Qatar’s complaints processes for migrant workers. 

Despite the well documented abuse of migrant workers, FIFA refuses to take responsibility, disputing claims that ongoing mistreatment of workers is indicative of the organization’s disregard for human rights. 

A controversial choice

The selection of Qatar to host the 2022 cup was a controversial choice given the lack of infrastructure and extreme heat. The competition normally takes place during the summer period. Investigations into FIFA, launched by the United States, later revealed that Qatar won the bid as a result of extensive bribes given to FIFA officials. 

As detailed by Arabia Policy in April, former FIFA President Sepp Blatter suggested that the United States could end up hosting the 2022 cup instead of Qatar. Whilst a change of host country is unlikely to occur, Blatter’s suggestion highlights the ongoing trepidation about Qatar’s ability to host the cup. 

The ongoing exploitation of migrant workers in Qatar is a cause for international concern and is a further stain on the Gulf nation’s World Cup, prior to the event kicking-off in over two years’ time. 

Saudi Arabia’s Sad Milestone: First COVID-19 Doctor Death

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Pakistani doctor Naeem Chaudhry, who worked at a hospital in the holy city of Mecca, is the first medic to die of COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia.

Dr Chaudhry died two days ago after contracting COVID-19 through his work at the Hira General Hospital in Mecca, Arab News reports. 

The doctor worked in the hospital’s General Surgery Department, where he was considered one of the facilities most skilled surgeons.  Director General of Mecca Health Affairs Dr Wael Hamzah Mutair said the Hira General Hospital team is greatly saddened by Chaudhry’s passing.  

Mutair emphasized that the doctor contracted the virus during the course of his work, not outside the hospital and, apart from having high blood pressure, suffered no other underlying health conditions.  

The Pakistani Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Raja Ali Ejaz, expressed his sympathy to Dr Chaudhry’s wife and three daughters who live in Mecca, saying he too was “deeply saddened,” by the doctor’s death. 

“He laid down his life for the humanitarian cause in these difficult circumstances. His services will always be remembered,” Ejaz said in a condolence message.

“May Allah Almighty rest the soul in eternal peace, and give you and the bereaved family the courage to bear this irreparable loss (Ameen).”

Chaudhry is one of the many Pakistani doctors and health professional’s working to fight the novel coronavirus pandemic in Saudi Arabia. On June 4, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health said the country has 23,581 active cases of COVID-19 and recorded 611 deaths from the disease.

Read also: Egyptian Coronavirus Denier Dies From Disease, Infects Family

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