Promoting Opportunities for Women Empowerment and Rights (POWER) Project Presentation on Unpaid Care Work Redistribution and Women Economic Empowerment

Outline of the Presentation Introduction Care Work has no boundaries! What UCW and WEE means to Farmers in Ghana Sharing of Experiences from Farmers The Role of Government in facilitating re-distribution of UWC The Gaps and Lessons Recommendations

Introduction Prevailing gender norms in African and other parts of the world has made women and girls undertake the bulk of unpaid care work such as caring and educating children, caring for the sick, preparing food, cleaning, and collecting water and fuelwood.

UCW has No Boundaries on all Categories of Women All categories of women are affected- rural women, urban and peri – urban women, educated, formal and informal working class, domestic workers, girls, elderly women and farmers It has been realized that the burden of unpaid care work has no boundaries on women level of education, however with empowerment and high level of income, it is well managed with less effects on the woman The greatest brunt is received by rural women in deprived areas with less economic means of livelihood.

What UCW Means to Farmers in Ghana Seline Amgbanmwin is 35 years with 3 children; 2 boys & 1 girls. She is married in Tizaa Community where AAG and partners supported a women groups of 32 members as part of the POWER project interventions According to Seline, UCW is seen as work that is not paid, is less visible and it includes fetching water, cleaning the house and other household and family support activities Seline will her experience and her involvement in the Power Project in Ghana in relation to UWC and WEE.

Brief Profile of Yakubu Karimu Yakubu Karimu, is the chairman of the Jirapa Farmers Network He is married with 6 children and a peer educator on unpaid care work. He participates in women groups activities and support them to acquire early tractor services for farming

What worked well in addressing UCW and WEE issues Supporting women groups to raise awareness among themselves as first targets and at the households, community and other public spaces. Build women capacity on CRSA practices and GBV Rigorous campaigns at the community level on women access to secured land with direct involvement of land owners and traditional leaders on issues of unpaid care work. Institution of WSS in all project groups to increase savings and administer group level revolving loans and welfare support to members Support selected groups to be registered as cooperatives to secure grants from other NGOs. Provision of seeds/small ruminants and train women in testing and selecting quality seeds locally.

What worked well in addressing UCW and WEE issues Community level awareness raising such as drama, men cooking competition. Regular dialogue with other stakeholders and use of time diaries Provision of time saving interventions such as child care centres water harvesting structures an energy saving cook stoves Use COMBAT and traditional leaders as peer educators and community level structure to campaign and denounce all forms of violence against women National level dialogue and men cooking competition on unpaid care work Trained and supported women to establish local market linkages, and access market regular information

Some Interventions

Men Cooking Contest at the community level

Role of Government and communities in facilitating Re-distribution Gradual use of time diaries have made communities, men in particular to appreciate the burden of UCW on women and has changed men perception in doing household activities and other care related work Some District Assemblies such as Nanumba North, Asutifi south and Tain District provided boreholes to communities as their commitment towards redistribution Support women groups to benefit from government flagship programmes such as PFJs policy. The Ministry of Gender is a key and strong ally to the campaign on UWC in Ghana. Support and encourage the participation of women leaders in MTDPP and annual planning process to capture some of their demands

Challenges and Lessons Men demand for men VSLs schemes to support them save and raise income. There is a fear that if AAG promotes it they might over power the women groups and their initiatives, however it is a good space for discussing GBV issues. Stigma associated with some men and family members supporting in re-distribution as a result of deepen cultural norms. Slow response from government (national and district Assemblies) to the issues of UCW such as Child care centers and payment for care givers. Some working class, elite and “educated men” still do not see the need for re-distribution event if they can support.

Recommendations Urban and Peri- urban campaigns on UCW is very crucial. E.g safe cities campaign should have a very strong component of UCW Work with the academia in organizing seminars for tertiary students for effective behavior change and understanding of the interlinkages of UWC, food security issues and the overall women economic empowerment Scale up and scale out existing strategies and actions at local and national levels and properly orient policy makers on the interlinkages of UCW and other issues such as GBV, CRSA, market access and women participation in decision making

Questions and Thank You!