The national consultation on valuing and investing in the care economy served as a critical and interactive platform for multi-stakeholder dialogue to discuss priorities and strategies on the best ways forward for the Indonesian Care Economy Roadmap and National Action Plan, including within the context of the development priorities of the Government of Indonesia, as stipulated in its Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) for 2025-2029.
The objective of the consultation was to serve as an interactive forum for key stakeholders to examine ways to accelerate progress and adopt national care policies—building on the wide-ranging consultations organized by the Government of Indonesia and other development partners since Indonesia’s Presidency of the G20 in 2022. This included accelerating progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly SDG5 target 5.4, and contributing to the national priorities and targets of the care economy as contained in the RPJMN 2025-2029. The consultation was structured to provide an opportunity for both state and non-state actors to take stock of, as well as to consider, possible areas for joint interventions for the recognition, reduction, and redistribution of unpaid and paid care work in Indonesia and for the promotion of gender equality, women’s economic empowerment, and their participation in the labour force.
Specifically, this consultation was structured to support participants in exchanging knowledge and ideas in order to:
- Explore innovative approaches, best practices, and successful models from national, ASEAN, and international contexts of care policy ecosystems that address gendered inequalities in the care economy.
- Foster partnerships across government ministries and departments, as well as civil society organizations, to collaborate towards a comprehensive and holistic ‘whole of government’ and ‘whole of society’ approach to recognize, reduce, and redistribute unpaid care and domestic work, which are critical for the sustainable implementation of the roadmap.
- Identify entry points for policy change (social, economic, and legislative aspects) that could facilitate the reduction and redistribution of unpaid care and domestic work. This includes aligning stakeholders on the vision, objectives, and the expected outcomes of the roadmap.
The consultation was jointly convened on 17 September 2024 by the Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection (MoWECP) of Indonesia, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), UN Women, and the World Bank. The national consultation brought together different Ministries of the Government of Indonesia, representatives from civil society in Indonesia, members of academia and/or think tanks, inter-governmental organizations, United Nations entities, international development organizations, donors, the private sector, representatives of care providers, and others.