The Philippines National Consultation on valuing and investing in unpaid care and domestic work was jointly convened by the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP), and Oxfam Pilipinas, with support from the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM).

The objective of the national consultation was to provide an interactive forum for key stakeholders to examine ways to accelerate progress and adopt national care policies. It provided an opportunity for both state and non-state actors to take stock of, as well as consider, possible areas for joint interventions to value and invest in the care economy in the Philippines; promote women’s economic empowerment and participation in the labour force; and advance the collection of gender data.

The national consultation served as a critical platform for exchanging knowledge and ideas, with a focus on:

Exploring innovative approaches, best practices, and successful models from national and international contexts of care policy ecosystems that address gendered inequalities in the care economy.

Fostering partnerships across government ministries and departments to collaborate towards a comprehensive and holistic ‘whole of government’ approach to recognize, reduce, and redistribute unpaid care domestic work.

Identifying entry points for policy change, including through a possible development of a National Framework for Action for the Philippine Government to utilize for a concerted and coordinated implementation of care-focused policy measures.

The outcome of the national consultation was a set of recommendations on areas for accelerated action, in line with the panel discussions.