The preoccupation with economic growth as the route out of poverty often means that the contribution of unpaid work – including work caring for others  - to social and economic well-being remains a marginalised, if not absent, issue within development debates. That in turn neglects the stark fact that the majority of unpaid work around the world is carried out by women.

Now in the second week of the Annual session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), efforts are being made to redress this imbalance. Delegates are now reviewing progress to achieve greater equality in caregiving, particularly within the context of HIV and AIDS.

This is not a new issue for VSO. We’ve been working for a long time to reduce the burden of HIV and AIDS care on women and girls and to increase the share of care-giving duties carried out by men. This is no small task, as progress is dependent on changing attitudes about the traditional roles of men and women, challenging the stigma that surrounds HIV and AIDS and, ultimately, changing individuals’ behaviour. We’re also working to ensure the rights of community caregivers are recognised and supported.

In Zimbabwe, for example, our Regional AIDS Initiative for Southern Africa (RAISA) programme has recently helped secure legislation to protect the rights of tens of thousands of predominantly female caregivers across the country. This has gone a long way to increase the visibility and recognition given to carers. It also means they will be able to access essential training and equipment to carry out their roles effectively and safely, as well as receive remuneration for their work.

As part of the Southern Africa preparatory meetings for CSW in Mozambique last month, VSO urged governments to recognise the value of unpaid care work and provide greater support to those who care for people living with HIV and AIDS across the region. Specific recommendations included strengthening Ministries of Gender and Social Welfare to extend the provision of social protection and welfare programmes, expanding programmes that engage men and boys in caring responsibilities, and making health facilities more accessible to families affected by HIV and AIDS.

Tendayi Westerhoff, from VSO’s partner organisation the Pan African Positive Women Coalition has taken these messages to the  57th Session currently taking  place in New York. We hope her presence ensures these recommendations are reflected in the final communiqué.

Looking beyond CSW, we need to ensure a spotlight continues to shine on this largely neglected issue and, with others, help galvanise action. To do otherwise would be, quite simply, careless.

For more information on VSO's work on gender and HIV and AIDS see:

VSO’s position on home-based care
Reducing the Burden of Care on Women and Girls
Walk the Talk

As people around the world celebrate International Women’s Day today, government officials, representatives from women’s groups and NGOs are gathered at the annual session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York to review progress to eliminate violence against women and girls for the first time in over a decade.

There has arguably never been a more important time to discuss this issue. Recent events such as the shooting of the young education activist Malala in Pakistan, the rape and killing of medical student Bitiya in India and even the shooting of Reeva Steenkamp in South Africa (on V Day) have served to galvanise public concern and moral outrage the world over. The One Billion Rising movement has also demonstrated a resurgence in women’s rights activism and grassroots mobilisation on this issue.

Actions speak louder than words

However, the Commission is meeting at a time when women’s rights appear to be increasingly under threat, with fears that some countries are backtracking on existing commitments. At last year’s CSW session, for example, members failed to agree the final communiqué for only the second time in its near 60 year history (the first being when violence against women was last reviewed as a main theme). And a few months later language on women’s rights within the outcome document of the Rio+20 conference was significantly weakened. Even the head of UN Women, Michelle Bachelet, entered CSW negotiations earlier this week indicating that compromises may be necessary in order to appease more conservative member states.

While Bachelet rightly points out that actions are ultimately more important than words, the weakening of language in recent international agreements is arguably indicative of a weakening commitment on the part of governments to take action.

We are now only two years away from the deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals and also the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action. It is therefore not a time for compromise but a time to redouble our efforts to ensure that gender equality and women’s empowerment  - including tackling violence against women and girls - remains a priority at the international level and results in tangible changes for women living in poverty on the ground. As the UK Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening argued earlier this week, the challenges facing women and girls represent ‘the greatest unmet challenge of our time.’

Challenge ourselves to do more

At VSO, we are rising to this challenge. Improving girl’s access to quality education, increasing women’s employment opportunities and ensuring both women and girls have a greater voice in decision making are key areas where we are working to make a difference. We are also applying pressure at the international level to ensure that gender equality and women’s empowerment is prioritised in the successor framework to the Millennium Development Goals.

International Women’s Day provides an opportunity to celebrate the achievements by and for women. However, maybe this year we should also be challenging ourselves to consider how we can -  again to cite the words of Justine Greening - ‘up our game’ to ensure both words and action result in meaningful and lasting change.

VSO has worked with Delhi-based youth organisation Swechha for many years. We have provided them with long-term volunteers and youth volunteers as part of the International Citizen Service. Vedika Jiandani, Youth Action Supervisor at Swechha tells us about the recent campaigns her organisation has been working on.

Three years ago India officially recognised education as a fundamental right for children aged 6-14. The Right to Education (RTE) Act grants free and compulsory education to all Indian children between these ages. VSO is working with organisations like Swechha, to make people more aware of the Act.

When Swechha outreach staff began work in Jagdamba Camp, an urban slum on the outskirts of Delhi, they came across many children who should have been in school but weren’t, despite the new law. This was because many people didn’t know about the new law, and the local education authorities were reluctant to implement it.

As a response, Swechha began an RTE campaign. The aim was to raise awareness about the Act through popular communications, and to lobby municipal authorities to put the act into practice. Our main activity was engaging people in street performances – a group of 30 volunteers performed plays which educated parents about the Act. Through these open-air performances Swechha managed to get 40 students from Jagdamba enrolled in school.

We expanded the initiative to other slum communities across Delhi. Before starting work in each new community, our volunteers carried out research to find out about the schools in the area and teachers’ attitudes. After assessing their findings the volunteers put on their street play outlining the RTE Act, and encouraged children and parents to exercise their right. Leaflets explaining the Act were distributed, and details of any children aged 6-14 years old who were not in school were recorded. We submitted these names to schools to help get all children into education.

Some schools were still refusing a number of children their right to education. To highlight this issue to the authorities, Swechha volunteers, along with five children who were denied access to schools, met the chairperson of the Delhi Commission of Protection of Child Rights. We filed 18 cases of children being refused admission. Immediate action was taken and all of the children were enrolled in schools, and are said to be doing well in all of their classes.

Today, after two years of running the campaign successfully across more than 10 communities in Delhi, we are running our third consecutive campaign in 2012 reaching out to many more underprivileged pockets of the city. Since 2010, over 100 volunteers have participated in the campaigns and 150 children have been enrolled in schools. We are sharing these experiences with other organisations in India to encourage them to carry out similar initiatives.

Until the Act is well known and publicised there will be a need for ongoing effort to reach out to children from underprivileged communities who are denied education on false grounds.

Find out more about Swechha and its projects at www.swechha.in