Responding to the gender impacts of COVID-19 – including lost economic opportunities when taking on more domestic and care work in the health sector and at home, and increased violence – requires more tailored policies and resources that support gender equality and women’s empowerment. It also means including women in leadership and decision making in all aspects of the recovery. Official development assistance (ODA) is key to improved gender analysis by donors and development partners, and the broader application of gender-responsive budgeting tools across public finance management (PFM) systems. This paper provides recommendations to better align ODA to gender-sensitive responses in the disbursement of COVID-19 relief and recovery funds, and considers how PFM systems should be strengthened by donors and partner countries to provide for gender-sensitive recoveries.