An Nahar reported Saturday on a paper published by UN Women entitled: “Women on the verge of an economic breakdown: Addressing the differential impacts of the economic crisis on women in Lebanon.” According to the study, a 25% contraction rate in real GDP from 2017 to 2020 is expected thus increasing women’s unemployment rate from 14.3% before the crisis to 26% in September 2020. This translates the 63% increase, from 81,200 to 132,500 in the number of unemployed women, equivalent to 51,300 unemployed women in June 2020 compared to 2018-2019. The study cited a conservative estimate of the female exit from the labor force, that is women who are no longer in the lookout for jobs, which anticipated the number to reach nearly 40,000 by October 2020, and noted that the number can be expected to drop by 22%. However, the overall effects of predicted job loss, in parallel to the rising economic inactivity experienced by some women, (those who exited the labor market), has risen by 106,750 jobs. Speaking to An Nahar daily, UN Women representative in Lebanon, Rachel Dore-Weeks, stressed that the impact of unemployment on women and families, has dire consequences on households, local communities and the country at large. (The complete study can be found on the following link: (https://bit.ly/3lAq5nL). (An Nahar, November 14, 2020)