CONTEXT

Across the continent and elsewhere in the world, unpaid care work sustains communities and economies. It provides essential care for children, sick and elderly people, and people with disabilities. However, this work falls disproportionately on women and girls, limiting their opportunities to participate in decent paid employment, education, leisure and political life.

According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), women in Uganda spend an average of seven hours on unpaid work, while men spend five hours, allowing them to allocate more time to productive work, devoting up to five hours compared to women's three hours.

In 2013, the Women’s Economic Empowerment and Care (WE-Care) program which is an Oxfam flagship initiative was launched to increase women’s and girls’ time and choice to participate in social, economic, and political life by transforming how unpaid care and domestic work (UCDW) is valued, shared, and invested in.

The WE-Care programme seeks to increase the recognition of UCDW in public policy; reduce heavy and time-consuming UCDW through investments in essential public services and infrastructure; redistribute the responsibility for UCDW more equally between men and women and between households and the state; and ensure that women with care responsibilities are represented in the planning and implementation of budgets and policies that affect their lives. 

The program works towards a just and inclusive society by recognizing, reducing, redistributing, representing, and rewarding unpaid care and domestic work (UCDW). It envisions a world where women and girls have more choice at every stage of their lives and that the work they do is valued. The program has previously been implemented in the Philippines, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya.

To learn more about the WE-Care programme, click here

ABOUT THE WE-CARE PHASE 5.1 PROGRAMME.

With continued funding from the Hewlett Foundation, Oxfam in Uganda and partners Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET), Girls Forum International (GAFI) and Mission Uganda are implementing the 5th phase of the programme with a strong focus on African women and girls gaining greater autonomy over their lives and time. 

Enhanced recognition, reduction, redistribution, reward, and representation of their unpaid and paid care and domestic work will increase their ability to live their lives to the fullest and enjoy better social, economic, political, and cultural rights. 

Whilst the new phase expands also to include underpaid care and domestic work and we have opted to use the acronym UUCDW to describe Unpaid and Underpaid Care and Domestic Work, some activities may focus only on UCDW and others on underpaid care and domestic work.

The program will be implemented in Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya with strong linkages to regional and global spaces and opportunities for influencing UUCDW. 

PROJECT AIM

To increase the recognition of UCDW in public policy; reduce heavy and time-consuming UCDW through investments in essential public services and infrastructure; redistribute the responsibility for UCDW more equally between men and women and between households and the state; and ensure that women with care responsibilities are represented in the planning and implementation of budgets and policies that affect their lives. 

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

  • To Increase the recognition of care, so care is considered valuable work, and women’s and men’s care roles are more visible.
  • Reduce the drudgery of care work so poor families spend fewer hours on care tasks.
  • Incidences of stress and overwork are reduced, so women and men can choose to spend more time on other activities.
  • Redistribute responsibility for care more equitably between women and men, and between households and the state/employers, and facilitate the representation of carers in decision-making and policy-making, to raise care on the agenda.

 IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS

  • Uganda Women’s Network. (UWONET)
  • Girls Forum International (GAFI)
  • Mission Uganda

FUNDED BY

  • Hewlett Foundation

PROJECT DURATION

  • 12 Months.

 

 

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unpaid care and domestic work