The Lao PDR National Consultation on Valuing Unpaid Care and Domestic Work and Investing in the Care Economy was jointly convened by the Lao Women's Union (LWU), the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), and Oxfam in Laos.
The objective of the national consultation was to serve as an interactive forum for key stakeholders to examine ways to accelerate progress and adopt care policies at the national level. It offered all stakeholders an opportunity to take stock of, as well as consider, possible areas for joint interventions to value and invest in the care economy in Lao PDR; promote women’s economic empowerment and participation in the labor force; and further advance the availability of timely, relevant, and comprehensive sex-disaggregated data and gender-related information.
The consultation served as a critical platform for exchanging knowledge and ideas, with a particular focus on:
- Increasing awareness and understanding of the importance of the care economy in Lao PDR.
- 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 paid and unpaid care domestic work.
- Identifying entry points for policy change (social, economic, and legislative aspects) to utilize for a concerted and coordinated implementation of care-focused policy measures, integrating both short and long-term considerations.
The outcome of the national consultation resulted in the identification of entry points for policy action on the care economy in Lao PDR.