International Day of Care and Support 2024; October 29th.

FORUM: “Transforming care systems to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in the context of Beijing+30.“ International Day of Care and Support 2024. Care work, both paid and unpaid, is crucial to the future of decent work. Growing populations, ageing societies, changing families, women’s secondary status in labour markets and shortcomings in social policies demand urgent action on the organization of care work from governments, employers, trade unions and individual citizens. If not adequately addressed, current deficits in care service provision and its quality will create a severe and unsustainable global care crisis and increase gender inequalities at work. Care work consists of two overlapping activities: direct, personal and relational care activities, such as feeding a baby or nursing an ill partner; and indirect care activities, such as cooking and cleaning. Unpaid care work is care work provided without a monetary reward by unpaid carers. Unpaid care is considered as work and is thus a crucial dimension of the world of work. Paid care work is performed for pay or profit by care workers. They comprise a wide range of personal service workers, such as nurses, teachers, doctors and personal care workers. Domestic workers, who provide both direct and indirect care in households, are also part of the care workforce. The care economy is growing as the demand for childcare and care for the elderly is increasing in all regions. It will thus create a great number of jobs in the coming years. However, care work across the world remains characterized by a void of benefits and protections, low wages or non-compensation, and exposure to physical, mental and, in some cases, sexual harm. It is clear that new solutions to care are needed on two fronts: in regards to the nature and provision of care policies and services, and the terms and conditions of care work. With the global demand for domestic workers likely to grow, the International Labour Organization steps up action to ensure they have access to decent work. Follow the conversations with the hashtags: #Dayofcare, #29october, #careworkers, #InvestInCare.

EVENT: On October 29th; from 10:00 am to 12:00 am EST; The International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Women, and the UNDP will mark International Day of Care and Support 2024 by spotlighting the Resolution concerning Decent Work and the Care Economy, adopted by the ILO International Labour Conference in June 2024. The Assembly invited stakeholders to observe the International Day of Care and Support on an annual basis in an appropriate manner in order to raise awareness of the importance of care and support and its key contribution to the achievement of gender equality and the sustainability of our societies and economies, as well as of the need to invest in a resilient and inclusive care economy, including the development of strong and resilient care and support systems.The focus of this year's celebration will be on transforming care systems to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in the context of Beijing+30, elaborating on the recent UN system-wide policy guidance on Transforming Care Systems in the Context of the SDGs and Our Common Agenda. Watch the live observance!

Opening remarks by Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Women, Sima Bahous, at the United Nations Observance of the International Day of Care and Support 2024.

Today, and every day, we recognize the skilled and the essential work of paid and unpaid care workers around the world.

Care work is the backbone of our well-being and prosperity. Without it, our societies and economies would simply not function. Yet, it often remains invisible. The significance of unpaid care has been enormously undervalued and overlooked in public policy and excluded from metrics of economic progress. Paid care work, meanwhile, continues to be undervalued and underpaid.

Care work is a gender equality issue.

We all know the data: women and girls remain the default providers of this essential labour, engaging in more than 2.5 times as many hours a day in unpaid care work than men. An estimated 80 per cent of paid domestic workers worldwide are also women, with 9 out of 10 of them working without social protection.

It is women living in poverty, migrant women, and women informal workers who shoulder the largest share of unpaid or under-paid care work.

These numbers are not just numbers. They reflect deep structural barriers that create unequal opportunities and outcomes for women and girls in education, in employment, in leadership and in financial security across their life.

They reflect a profound disconnect between what is essential for societies and economies to thrive and what is prioritized in policies and budgets.

We know that investing in robust care policies, quality care services, and basic time-saving care infrastructure is a triple win for individuals, for communities and for economies. These investments can simultaneously reduce women’s time and income poverty and enhance their labour market participation.

Evidence shows us that investing in care can increase the number of decent care jobs, potentially creating 300 million jobs by 2035.

Today, we are calling for care work to be valued as a public good, as skilled and essential work, and for quality care and support to be recognized as the basis for equal participation in society.

UN Women stands committed to working with you to transform care systems and to build thriving, equitable and sustainable economies and societies for generations of today and tomorrow.

We are making great strides. Countries such as Australia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Kenya, Panama, Uruguay, among many others, are progressing national care policies or strategies, and I applaud these efforts.

UN Women is further advancing this critical work through our global initiative TransformCare, working with our partners and allies, Member States, civil society organizations, the private sector and UN agencies to advance valuing care through comprehensive policies.

The new UN system-wide policy guidance on transforming care systems – developed under the leadership of the Deputy Secretary-General, Ms. Amina Mohammed, which UN Women proudly co-led with ILO, OHCHR, UNDP and ECLAC – gives us a roadmap for getting there.

Next year, we will approach 30 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Let us leverage this opportunity, continue to build momentum and push for stronger commitments to action to transform care systems.

Let us commit to build caring, thriving, equitable and sustainable economies and societies for today’s and tomorrow’s generations.

I thank you.

Statement of the UN Women on the occasion of the International Day of Care and Support; October 29th.