Projects

location_on Rwanda

Engaging Men for Care Equality – Scaling Bandebereho in Rwanda

Despite a strong policy environment on gender equality in Rwanda, women typically perform 75% of household unpaid care work. The unequal burden is fuelled by rigid gender norms that ascribe care work to women. This has profound implications for women and girls. It impedes their education and access to paid work, limits leisure time and […]

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location_on Sierra Leone

Freetown Caring City

Unpaid caregiving in Sierra Leone significantly hampers gender equity, particularly in Freetown, where women and girls bear a disproportionate burden within households. Due to the time-intensive nature of caregiving responsibilities, women work 1.6 times more than men, encompassing both paid and unpaid work. This time-poverty restricts their opportunities for education, well-being, and economic advancement, while […]

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location_on Burundi

Women-led Empowerment – Catalyzing Actions and Responsibilities for Equality

Belle Colline is a rural community development model tested in Burundi that seeks to empower women and girls, eradicate gender-based violence and promote economic opportunities. WE-CARE is extending this model to emphasize recognizing, redistributing and reducing unpaid care work by engaging men in care work, supporting local women’s associations, and community action planning. Gender norms […]

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location_on Kenya

Enhancing and Scaling up Impacts of a Social-Franchise Model of Daycare Centres to Reduce Effects of Unpaid Care Work

In Nairobi’s informal settlements, women shoulder a heavy load of unpaid care work. They spend about five hours a day on primary care tasks, with a significant portion of this involving the care of young children. In the absence of extended family support systems and with limited access to formal day care, low-income mothers must […]

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location_on Kenya

Catalyzing care innovations in marginalized and vulnerable communities of Kenya’s arid and semi-arid land

Women and girls in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands bear a disproportionate burden of unpaid care work, spending significantly more time than men and boys on activities such as childcare, cooking and cleaning. This inequality limits their access to education and employment, perpetuating cycles of poverty, ill health and gender-based violence. Aga Khan University research […]

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location_on Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa

Transforming elder care through collective policy action in Southern Africa

Southern Africa has one of the largest and fastest-growing elderly populations in Africa. In some areas, men and women who reach the age of 60 can expect to live an additional 17 and 20 years, respectively. However, older adults often face multiple health issues, and their care is primarily managed by families, and by women […]

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location_on Ethiopia, Kenya

Scaling innovations for reduced and redistributed women’s unpaid care work in smallholder livestock feed provision in rural Kenya and Ethiopia

Women in rural Kenya and Ethiopia shoulder a disproportionate share of unpaid care work in their households. This limits their ability to take part in income-generating activities such as livestock rearing. By testing social and technological innovations aimed at reducing and redistributing care work, researchers and practitioners are creating new evidence to inform care policies […]

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location_on Benin

Scaling up an inclusive childcare policy framework for the informal sector in Benin

Women in Benin’s bustling informal sector grapple with the dual responsibilities of work and childcare, and often lack access to quality affordable childcare services. This project caters to the childcare needs of these women by addressing the policy gap and developing an inclusive childcare framework for the informal sector. Addressing informal workers’ childcare deficit Women […]

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location_on Tanzania

Scaling up innovations for reducing and redistributing women’s and girls’ unpaid care work in rural Tanzania

In rural Tanzania, women take on a disproportionate share of unpaid care work, including walking long distances to collect water. This project is scaling up proven innovations to reduce the time women spend on unpaid care work, challenge restrictive gender norms and support women’s economic empowerment. Domestic work limits women’s opportunities Women in Tanzania spend […]

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location_on Benin, Togo

Supporting evidence-informed policymaking on unpaid care work for intergenerational equity in Togo and Benin

Traditional gender norms in many African countries assign women the primary responsibility for unpaid care and domestic work (UCDW), which is essential for family and community wellbeing. However, it is often undervalued in policy decisions, perpetuating economic inequality and gender stereotypes. This project seeks to inform care policies in Benin and Togo, responding to the […]

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