Building a Feminist Future: Towards a feminist and human-rights-based global social pact on care

• Day 4: Dec 17 (UTC+8) 9:00 pm-10:30 pm

International Network for Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR Net)

In this session, women’s rights activists, advocates and grassroots leaders from the Global South introduced a proposal for a Global Call for a Feminist and Human Rights Based Social Pact on Care. Building on long-fought feminist struggles, ESCR-Net members presented a 6R framework in hopes of wider discussion and the formation of broader alliances for transforming how care is unfairly structured, undervalued, commodified, and excluded from the realm of rights worldwide. The session took the form of a facilitated conversation for mutual learning and collective thinking of elements for a global advocacy strategy for a transformative new social pact on care aimed at promoting caring economies and building a feminist future.

Speakers:
Claribed Palacio, Union of Black Domestic Workers (Unión de Trabajadoras Afrodescendientes del Servicio Doméstico, UTRASD)
Claudia Lazzaro, Union of the Leather Industry of Argentina (Sindicato de Curtidores de Cuero de la República Argentina, SOCRA)
EiEi Min, Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP)
Charlene May, Women´s Legal Centre Organisation (South Africa)
Carine Metz Abu Hmeid, Democracy and Workers’ Rights Center (Palestine)

Moderators:
Viviana Osorio, ESCR-Net Organisation, Advisor on Women’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Valentine Sébile, ESCR-Net Organisation, Working Group Coordinator on Women’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

This session addressed the uneven social organisation of care work and presented a framework to reframe the economic system as a caring economy and challenge the current neoliberal model based on economic growth. Related topics on the commodification of common goods, financialisation, and labour flexibilisation were also covered.

Three women’s rights activists, representing grassroots women leaders and experts on the care economy spoke with the key objectives of:

• Introducing a proposed 6R Framework with key policy recommendations to reframe the care economy and advance a feminist social pact on care, building on a collective brief developed by ESCR-Net on a new ‘Global Social Pact on Care’. This proposed framework includes key political demands aimed at redistributing, recognising, reducing care, fulfil the rights of care givers and receivers, ensure representation, and reframe the economy as a caring economy.
• Building a global advocacy strategy for a global call to reframe the economy as a caring economy, via mutual learning and solidarity across regions.

This session took the form of a facilitated conversation to build collective learning and to develop a global advocacy strategy. A facilitator conducted the session, where three speakers presented the framework. An open discussion followed to invite feedback on the proposed framework. Participants were then divided into breakout rooms to hold discussions and brainstorm ideas on global advocacy strategies to advance a new global pact on care, which will be reverted to a plenary at the end.

Spanish interpretation is available for the session.