The Women's Empowerment Working Group meeting, which concluded this Tuesday (09) in Brasilia, was guided by philosopher Silvia Federici's statement: "what they call love, we call unpaid work." Among the accomplishments were an international seminar and significant progress towards the consensus declaration to be signed at the ministerial meeting in October.
Earlier this month, in an unprecedented State action, the Brazilian Federal Government sent to Congress a bill of law to establish the National Caregiving Policy, aiming to ensure the rights of both those who provide and receive care. The text was built based on the work of a group that involved teams from 20 ministries and representatives from states, municipalities, and the academy.
With their homework done, the Brazilian G20 presidency elevated the theme to a leading place at the Women's Empowerment Working Group (WG) during its second-to-last technical meeting. Under the coordination of the Ministry of Women, the WG met in Brasília between July 8 and 9. Among the deliverables was an international seminar on the issue and the advancement of a consensual declaration dealing with work care, among other thematic axes.
Being the only person in the household to wake up at night to change the child's diaper; quitting a job to dedicate to a family member with some degenerative disease; taking responsibility for the needs of the parents when they are older. These are all tasks that, in a mental image, will essentially be projected as women's roles. This is not far from reality: data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística/IBGE) show that, during the period under analysis, women dedicated 9.6 more weekly hours than men to domestic chores or caring for people. Additionally, around 92% of women aged 14 or older performed domestic chores and/or people caregiving tasks.
Unfortunately, this internal scenario does not contrast with the international one, a reality that corroborated the need to bring the topic to the center of the discussions at the G20 WG meeting this month. Maria Helena Guarezi, executive secretary at the Brazilian Ministry of Women and WG coordinator, underscored the similarity among the countries and the synergy of their quest for advancements on this agenda.
"It is worth noting that all countries look at this issue from a similar perspective. Naturally, we must respect the geographic, climate, cultural, and political diversity, but all G20 members have been discussing the issue of caregiving as an important element for development and even for the growth of their GDP," stated Professor Guarezi. An Oxfam report had already pointed out that women subsidize the economy in at least USD 10.8 trillion per year through their dedication to caregiving work.
Professor Guarezi also spoke about the importance of signing a joint declaration at the end of the Working Group, which had its debut in the G20 this year. Beyond the issues regarding life sustainability and the caregiving work economy, the document -which may be approved during the Ministerial meeting in October- must also contemplate the theme of equal conditions for men and women in global governance. "A consensus document must be dealt with democratically, open to everyone. It is important to say that all the countries that participated in this process consider this declaration to be fundamental as it will be the first declaration in the history of the WG," she said.
International Seminar: caregiving work and the sustainability of life and the economy
Based on the understanding that society and the government share responsibility in seeking solutions, the Group's deliverables included a Seminar held in Brasília on July 9 and 10, following the conclusion of the Women's Empowerment technical meetings. During the event's three panels-Global Issues, Focus on Time Usage, and Focus on Public Policies-delegates were able to deepen their discussions and proposals. Much of the agenda related to this topic has become more pressing since the COVID-19 pandemic, which highlighted issues surrounding caregiving work.
Rosane Silva, national secretary for Economic Autonomy and Caregiving Policy at the Brazilian Ministry of Women, was one of the panelists. She stated that including men in the discussion and in the division of caregiving tasks is essential, since change depends particularly on them as social actors. "Inside the family, men need to be responsible for caregiving tasks. If caregiving is so essential to ensure the sustainability of human life, then it must be shared among everyone, with all that share their daily lives with us. A man will not be less manly if he does laundry or the dishes, if he takes care of a child or an elderly person. If we, the women, can do it, and for free and without being valued for it, men can also do it," she argued.
"Debating the theme of caregiving in a seminar like the one we just had in this Working Group, in this space where economies are being discussed, is not only symbolic; it is a paradigm shift," added the Ministry's executive secretary.
Issues related to class, race, ethnicity, and regional background were integral to the debate, which took the intersectionality of inequalities into consideration.
Next steps
The Women's Empowerment WG will meet twice more under the Brazilian presidency, both in October. There will be one last technical meeting and the Ministerial meeting, when the joint declaration on the priority axes- Equality and Autonomy; Labor and Caregiving Policy; Combating Misogyny and Violences; and Climate Justice- will be signed and made ready for the Leaders' Summit.
Furthermore, before the last technical meeting, there will also be an innovative event held in conjunction with the Finance Track. This event aims to strengthen the process of ensuring that women's recommendations are presented to the leaders of the G20. The discussion is expected to delve deeper into the theme of women's participation in economic activities.
