JUST CARE ECONOMY ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN (JCEA)

A grassroots’ women’s community caregiver organizations Advocacy Campaign to advance a Just Care Economy

CAMPAIGN LAUNCH

Global Grassroots Women Community Caregivers Summit, from 28 to 30 June 2023 in Mexico City

BACKGROUND TO THE CAMPAIGN

Grassroots’ women have been in the frontlines of providing essential support, care, and guidance to individuals and families struggling to survive different crisis including HIV and AIDS pandemic, COVID-19 pandemic, Climate change induced disasters, etc. Women have shown commitment and resilience by filling critical gaps left by governments’ inadequate response to addressing the hardships imposed to communities. Acknowledging that care will remain critical due to the ongoing crisis and pandemics that have become our new norm. Its critical to recognize grassroots women community caregiver groups as essential to sustaining our households, communities, and the planet. The historical record of the pandemic validates the disproportionate care burdens grassroots women assumed–without recognition or financial support- revealing the unsustainability of the current social and economic organization of care. A just care economyy requires recognizing and compensating grassroots women community caregivers for the critical and brave contributions they have made and continue to make.

GENERAL DEMANDS FOR JUST CARE ECONOMIES

Recognize the constituency of local grassroots women caregiver organizations, in their diversity, as essential workers and agents of development.
Publicize the scope and value of grassroots women community caregivers’ contributions to foster local and national economic development and the overall economy, and ensure the national GDP incorporates care work.
Develop and implement innovative policy and program frameworks that create sustainable revenue streams to compensate caregivers’ organizations, finance underpaid work and women's organizing campaigns for economic justice.
Promote and secure the inclusion of grassroots women caregiver organizations and leaders in decision-making processes related to social and economic policy and program development and budgeting (especially those tied to post-COVID-19 recovery/stimulus plans, poverty reduction, and social protection investments to assist marginalized workers) at all levels of government)

Ensure decent work and social protection through comprehensive policies and tools that provide grassroots women community caregivers, domestic workers and other low paid care workers access to healthcare, income supplements, social security, retirement benefits, and affordable social housing.
Compel nation-states to guarantee essential services and infrastructure for life such as water and sanitation, good quality public services, without these services, care cannot be guaranteed.
Provide access to productive capital - including land, credit, technology, internet and equipment; and invest in training and capacity building and other livelihood strengthening initiatives that produce equitable opportunities to access better markets and value chains and advance our economic independence.
Recognize and value care for the environment and natural resources, and protect the ancestral knowledge of our cultures.

GOAL OF THE CAMPAIGN

Advance immediate practical actions that respect, resource and compensate local caregiver constituencies and organizations for their leadership in fostering caring society and just

ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN ACTIONS TO ADVANCE A JUST CARE ECONOMY

Implement joint policy advocacy efforts and promote public dialogues (locally/regionally/ globally), to amplify the voice and agency of grassroots caregivers in decision-making processes that shape the care economy, including in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Secure flexible direct funding for grassroots women’s community caregivers’ organizations and their networks to sustain their operations, accelerate organizing and advocacy efforts and transfer good practices nationally, regionally and globally.
Implement effective strategies and practices and adapt existing tools, such as social protection, to deliver strategic outcomes that ensure grassroots caregivers are adequately supported, empowered, and integrated into economic and social development initiatives.
Develop grassroots policy and normative frameworks and partner with multilateral organizations in order to ensure decent caregiver earnings as well as the right to care.
Valorize Grassroots Community Caregivers Work through compelling case studies and short videos; and collaborate with experienced feminist researchers to co-develop time use and other evidence gathering survey and data collection methodologies that capture the labor time and qualitative skills grassroots women’s community caregivers apply in their work (in crisis and non-crisis times).

CAMPAIGN PERIOD

One (1) year

TARGETED STAKEHOLDERS

Governments, international governmental and policy agencies, philanthropies, private sector, civil society, local authority networks, academia, media, and other economic justice actors