The pandemic has disproportionately, and more detrimentally, affected members of most vulnerable social groups—including people living in poverty, elderly, persons with disabilities, youth, women, queer, transgender, and indigenous peoples. A report by the United Nations on the impacts of COVID-19 on women notes that the compounded economic impacts are felt especially by women and girls who are generally earning less, saving less, and holding insecure jobs or living close to poverty. Similarly, the plight of migrant workers in India has also come to the forefront during this outbreak.

The COVID-19 response and recovery process provides us with a chance to work on existing inequities to ensure that everyone in the society receives fair opportunities as we prepare to enter a post-pandemic society of hope. If not properly addressed at this stage, it may increase inequality, exclusion, discrimination, and global unemployment in the medium and long term, making us vulnerable as a society for future threats. Businesses and organisations have the opportunity to become agents of change by working actively on inclusion along caste, class, and gender lines.

Through this webinar, we would like to start a discussion around how the recovery plans of businesses could address inequities more strongly than earlier, in their own operations as well as in their value chain. We learn from examples of how it has been done in the past and how it can be scaled for all employers to become agents of change.