Impact on households The imposed restrictions led to significant job losses for many citizens employed both within the formal and informal sectors of the economy. According to the 2019/20 national household survey the number of household operating enterprises dropped from 51 percent before Covid-19 to 37 percent after Covid-19, with those in urban areas being the most affected. A business survey conducted by Uganda’s Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) revealed that the economy had been severely affected by Covid-19, with 75 percent of businesses forced to lay off their employees as a result of the imposed containment measures. According to World Bank estimates between 1.1 to 3.2 million people were pushed into poverty, adding to the already existing 8.7 million poor people in Uganda. The closure of all workspaces including shopping malls, small shops, hair salons and other small businesses with the exception of food selling stores and markets removed the means of survival from daily wage earners and had significant negative effects on women’s economic welfare since women predominate in these small businesses. A report by the World Bank revealed that across the Sub-Saharan region, 43% of women-owned businesses were closed in the early months of the pandemic, compared to 34% of those owned by men. As many women lost their sources of income in both the formal and informal sectors, they were left with an increased burden of unpaid domestic care work. Figure 1: Ugandan women fetching water for home use. 9 Research on the Influence of International Financial Institutions on Uganda’s COVID – 19 Recovery Agenda