admin | September 12, 2024
In late May, representatives from eight African countries gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to make a commitment about unpaid care work. In a communiqué released Sept. 4, the participating organizations shared policy recommendations about unpaid care work based on what they had heard from 20,355 rural Africans using radio and mobile phones.
The communiqué, released by Farm Radio International, UN Women and FEMNET, shares the highlights and outcomes from an event that brought together more than 45 representatives from government, women’s rights organizations, civil society, radio stations and rural communities.
The Pan-African convening in Addis was the culmination of an eight-month project, funded by Global Affairs Canada, that aimed to increase representation and recognition of the work done by unpaid care workers, as well as commitment by decision-makers to respond to the rights and needs of these workers.
Unpaid care work is informal caregiving undertaken without monetary compensation, including caring for children, the elderly and people with disabilities, as well as related activities like cooking and cleaning. Globally, women perform 76.2% of unpaid care work, which limits their education, employment and leisure opportunities.
The discussions in Addis centred around the results of a series of On Air Dialogue polls conducted in February through April 2024 by 16 radio stations in five countries: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria and Tanzania. The polls asked rural Africans about their experiences with and perspectives on unpaid care work. In total, 20,355 respondents left 95,951 poll responses and 13,937 audio comments.
“If we have water at hand, our worries are over. If we have water, everything else becomes easy: laundry, children’s hygiene, washing up and everything else becomes really easy for us. That’s what I was going to ask the authorities,” said a woman who called in to Radio Zama FM in Burkina Faso.
“We are incredibly proud of the collective commitment made during this convening in Addis Ababa,” said Julie Langelier, Farm Radio International’s head of projects. “The collaboration between women’s rights organizations and radio broadcasters in the eight countries fostered great interest and engaging discussions with audiences. The voices of over 20,000 rural Africans have been amplified, and their experiences with unpaid care work are now shaping tangible policy recommendations. This is a significant step towards recognizing and addressing the critical contributions of unpaid care workers. By listening to these voices, we are not only highlighting the challenges but also pushing for solutions that will transform the lives of women and their communities across sub-Saharan Africa.”
Convening attendees recommended that governments take the following actions related to unpaid care work:
- Carry out sensitization, awareness raising and community dialogues about unpaid care work
- Prioritize community-based child care services in communities and markets
- Consider inclusiveness during infrastructure development to support caring for children, persons with special needs and the elderly
- Ensure access to water, energy, information and technology in communities
- Promote fair distribution of unpaid care tasks among family members, recognizing everyone’s contributions
- Engage men as agents during implementation of unpaid care work programs and policies
- Encourage meaningful collaboration between governments, NGOs, international organizations and local communities
- Have a monitoring, evaluation and learning framework for the unpaid care policy
Read the full communique: https://farmradio.org/publications/knowledge-sharing-about-unpaid-care-in-sub-saharan-africa/