UN Women

Published purpose

The project seeks to recognize, reduce, and redistribute women’s unpaid care work in Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa when the increased need for care work during the COVID-19 pandemic deepened gender inequalities. The project aims to benefit rural women active in the agricultural sector and most affected by loss of income, livelihoods, and markets to promote their full and equal participation in the economy by reducing their time on care work. The project does so by supporting better laws, policies, and services for equitable distribution of unpaid care work. It also aims to strengthen the role of women’s cooperatives and their capacity to provide childcare support and access to timesaving, climate-resilient infrastructure, or technology to reduce women’s time spent on care. Project activities include: (1) supporting national and local policy advocacy for greater awareness and capacity-building to redress discriminatory social norms and address unpaid care work in laws, policies and services and in economic recovery and fiscal stimulus packages; (2) developing viable models of transformative care services and childcare provision; (3) providing access to time-saving, climate-resilient infrastructure for thousands of women; (4) raising-awareness in communities, including by engaging men and boys, about discriminatory social norms and unpaid care work; and (5) piloting innovative micro-insurance products and services to address unpaid care needs.