WE-Care was launched in 2014 in five countries – Colombia, Ethiopia, The Philippines, Uganda and Zimbabwe – and components of the approach are now being implemented across numerous Oxfam programmes covering livelihoods, health rights, women’s leadership and youth empowerment.
In order to address ‘heavy’ and ‘unequal’ care work and to raise the profile of care as a cross-cutting development issue, Oxfam and its partners implemented a baseline Household Care Survey (HCS) in five countries in which the WE-Care project was active.
This report describes the use of information and communications technologies for data gathering, analysis and implementation of a randomized control trial. This aimed to understand the impact that access to Nutrition (Agri and Health) services had on the allocation of time to unpaid care work.
The first phase of the WE-Care programme built on Oxfam’s previous experience with Rapid Care Analysis methodologies in livelihoods programmes. The programme aimed to complement and strengthen Oxfam’s initiatives on women’s leadership and livelihoods by building evidence for influencing change on care, while also providing the development sector with methods and knowledge to strengthen future advocacy on women’s economic empowerment and care work.
To gain a clearer understanding of care work and pathways of change to promote more equitable care provision, Oxfam conducted a Household Care Survey in communities of rural Colombia, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Data were collected on household characteristics, members’ time use, socioeconomic status, social norms, labour-saving equipment and public infrastructure.
Oxfam's 2014–2017 WE-Care initiative addressed the unequal burden of care and housework to improve outcomes for women in their food security, political participation, and other programs. Directly active in ten countries like Colombia and Uganda, aspects of WE-Care were also implemented in Bangladesh and Honduras through Oxfam Canada, GB, and Novib.
