Community-based care services are key in helping women balance family and work responsibilities; however, they remain underfunded.
Southern Voice and the United Nations Foundation organized a discussion on “How the Care Economy Needs to Change for a New Social Contract“, on the sidelines of CSW66 on Tuesday, March 22, 09:00 – 10:00 am EDT (via zoom).
This event brought experts from the Global South to discuss how women have responded to the challenges of increasing care responsibilities during the pandemic and what innovations have resulted from it. From community-level initiatives to technological advances to the reshaping of social norms around care, the COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the importance of this issue. The panelists discussed how the international community can support a more equitable distribution of care responsibilities.
Care and its fair distribution are essential components of any new social contract in the post-pandemic world. It needs to foster trust and collaborative relationships between citizens and the State. So far, the fact that women are the main bearers of care activities has been implicit in the social contract. Care sharing must be an explicitly negotiated issue in households and societies around the globe.
The concept note and program for the event are available here.
Read the latest Southern Voice Policy Brief on the care economy here.
