Our Approaches
The world has changed dramatically. Recent and ongoing global crises – including the COVID-19 pandemic, the escalating climate crisis, and various humanitarian conflicts – have exacerbated existing challenges. These interconnected events have led to intensified economic inequality and gender injustice, particularly concerning unpaid care work. To genuinely achieve gender equality in this critical area, WE-Care’s strategies are evolving to directly address these new realities and ensure our approaches reflect the urgent needs on the ground.
Adapting to a changing world: WE-Care’s approaches
Building an evidence base on UCDW
Effective advocacy for gender equality in unpaid care needs strong, local evidence. However, most countries lack national time-use data, a critical gap. WE-Care tackles this by building evidence on UCDW. We use innovative, cost-effective methods to better understand unpaid care, which then guides community programs and strengthens national and global advocacy.
Combining gendered time-use data with insights on social norms, public services, and wellbeing creates particularly powerful evidence. This holistic approach makes the case for policy change undeniable, helping women’s rights organizations and advocates be more effective.
Funding practical and low-cost solutions
WE-Care translates evidence into action. We partner to implement practical solutions and advocacy strategies, enabling communities and local governments to directly address unpaid care burdens. Our initial focus on low-cost interventions is strategic: it proves that change is achievable for communities and encourages other development organizations to invest in this vital issue.
Supporting local and national governments to enact policy change
WE-Care actively supports local and national governments in the regions where we operate to enact meaningful policy and practice changes. We achieve this by presenting compelling evidence on current patterns of heavy and unequal care burdens, alongside proven, effective solutions for their reduction and redistribution. Our collaborative approach aims to translate insights into lasting impact.
Increasing our impact through multi-stakeholder and private sector partnerships
To maximize our reach, WE-Care prioritizes strong multi-stakeholder and private sector partnerships. These collaborations are essential for pushing UCDW higher on corporate priorities and public discourse, fostering widespread commitment to gender equality.
Engaging the media and men and boys to shift norms on care
WE-Care invests in public education, framing UCDW as a core economic, development, and gender equality issue. Our strategy includes: working with media and opinion shapers on public campaigns; encouraging private sector advertising to abandon harmful gender stereotypes; and actively partnering with men and boys as essential allies and champions.
Maximizing opportunities for local-to-global influencing
WE-Care strategically leverages opportunities within the wider Oxfam Confederation and beyond to drive local-to-global influencing. Our aim is to achieve lasting policy and practice changes that benefit women and girls worldwide. We target influential institutions such as the World Bank and the UN, which shape global and national economic development dialogues. Furthermore, we empower national partners and women’s rights organizations to advocate on (UCDW at key global forums, including the UN Commission on the Status of Women and the Women Deliver Conference.