Summary

In the present report, the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls underscores the central role of care and support in sustaining the well-being of societies. Although care and support constitute a collective responsibility that benefits everyone, they continue to fall disproportionately on women and girls – often at great cost to their human rights. Despite its importance, care and support work is frequently unrecognized as work, and, even when acknowledged, remains undervalued, underpaid and largely unprotected. In the report, the Working Group argues that existing fragmented and insufficient care and support policies amount to gender discrimination. In a rapidly aging world with an existing structural care deficit and growing care needs, the Working Group calls for urgent public investment and transformation of cultural norms to ensure men and boys’ equal participation in care work to build gender-responsive, human rights-based care and support systems for all.