COMMENT | As the world marks International Women’s Day on March 8 in the midst of a global pandemic, one stark fact is clear: the Covid-19 crisis has a woman’s face.

The pandemic is worsening already deep inequalities facing women and girls, erasing years of progress towards gender equality.

Women are more likely to work in sectors hardest hit by the pandemic. Most essential frontline workers are women — many from racially and ethnically marginalised groups and at the bottom of the economic ladder.

Women are 24 percent more vulnerable to losing their jobs and suffering steeper falls in income. The gender pay gap, already high, has widened, including in the health sector.

Unpaid care has increased dramatically owing to stay-at-home orders and school and childcare closures. Millions of girls may never ...