The pandemic has blown the lid on gender parity status. As expected and projected, the figures are disproportionately low for the marginalized groups, especially women. Amid disruptions by COVID, global stakeholders are keen on improving the status of women and other minority groups to overcome the historic challenges they have been facing due to archaic societal norms and inadequate opportunities.

Achieving this milestone is not an easy job. It requires support and aid from all parts of society, including the affected individuals themselves. The state-of-the-art innovation, the COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Women has gained traction in terms of reach and actions. Several insights have been derived using the tracker. Similarly, study reports on the essential action points for retaining women in the workforce have been released by several global firms in solidarity with other efforts towards achieving gender parity.

Listed below are six action plans from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank Group, that private companies can implement towards achieving gender parity and retaining women in the workforce.

• Retain female employees during and after the crisis

• Provide support to employees and entrepreneurs facing increased care demands

• Ensure respectful workplace cultures (both virtual and in-person)

• Support employees’ mental health and well-being

• Consider the digital gender divide in digitalization efforts

• Build more resilient supply chains by supporting women entrepreneurs with access to finance and markets

Efficient and agile actions are the need of the hour. Going by the recommendations built from IFC surveys, World Bank’s COVID-19 surveys, interviews done with a total of 715 companies across the globe, and data drawn from several renowned research studies, we have the key checkpoints herewith to move ahead. It is time to turn the tide of gender disparity, starting from us, the private sector firms.