The Women’s Policy Group Northern Ireland is a platform for women working in policy and advocacy roles in different organisations to share their work and speak with a collective voice on key issues. It is made up of women from trade unions, grassroots women’s organisations, women’s networks, feminist campaigning organisations, LGBT+ organisations, support service providers, human rights and equality organisations and individuals.

Given the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on women globally, the Women’s Policy Group have prepared a COVID-19 Feminist Recovery Plan for Northern Ireland. This plan sets out WPG recommendations for recovering from COVID-19, as elected representatives and decision-makers must take into consideration the institutionalised inequalities that exist, and co-develop recovery planning with the communities affected. These recommendations will cover economic justice, health, social justice, equality, the implications of Brexit and examples of international best practice.

In the past year, since the Feminist Recovery Plan (FRP) was initially launched, further evidence has highlighted what we have been stating from the beginning of COVID-19 – that women have been worst impacted by the pandemic. As we finally move towards a recovery from this pandemic, we need to reiterate our recommendations to take a gender-sensitive response. The WPG therefore took the decision to relaunch an updated version of the Plan in January 2021. This updated version was informed by a significant body of primary research which has been compiled into a supplementary report.