Like nature’s vital resources, unpaid care work must not be taken for granted

10.03.23

UN Geneva, Human Rights Council - The dialog following the presentation of the report Women, girls and the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment was the opportunity for MMM to reaffirm the urgent need for a systemic transformation of our economic system so that both unpaid care work and natural resources cease to be considered as free and infinite resources. We called for a rapid transformation to a wellbeing economy - in service of life.

The following is the full statement delivered by our UN representative, Constance Nothomb, during the interactive dialog with the UN Special Rapporteur, on the occasion of the presentation of his report on Women, girls and the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment (A/HRC/52/33)

We supports the conclusion of today’s report: that only transformative changes can achieve a just and sustainable future where everyone, including women and girls, enjoy the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.

Problems must be tackled from their source, of which a major one is the very own nature of our current economic system.

To favour economic growth over environmental degradation and public health concerns is not sustainable nor is it equitable. By disregarding the unpaid work women and girls undertake daily to provide care for those around them, we also disregard the risks and injustice they face. As such, we neglect some of their most fundamental rights.

This is especially true for mothers.

Like nature’s provision of vital resources, women’s disproportionate unpaid labour and contribution to the care economy cannot, and should not, be taken for granted. Care must be prioritized as a key component of our economic system. Economies depend on it, whether it be caring for children, older persons, or the environment.

Investing in care work is investing in the future.

This is what we are calling for today. For member states to collectively move beyond GDP, and see the transformation into wellbeing economies, as an essential measure for all to enjoy their right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.

MMM oral statement for download

The interactive dialog took place on 8 and 9 March 2023 during the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Most read articles

In this together: Share the Care, Transform Tomorrow

02.07.22

UN New York, HLPF - Join us on July 11th for a discussion on how #SharingTheCare at every level - family, community, governments and private sector - is vital for

Lire plus

Making the case for Gender Equal Parenting: Vital for Early Childhood Development and a transformative tomorrow

04.10.22

At MMM, we believe that sharing the invisible work of caring and educating children more equitably is a quadruple win: essential for early child development (ECD), beneficial for both men

Lire plus

Care is a collective responsibility

13.07.22

UN New York - Our virtual #HLPF event, which took place on the margins of the annual UN conference that assesses progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, saw expert speakers

Lire plus
See all the articlesof the category

Latest News from MMM and its Network

Pathways to a transformative recovery centered on Care

04.05.23

UN New York - Ahead of the upcoming 2023 High Level Political Forum (HLPF), MMM's written statement provides 2 concrete policymaking avenues to address the issue of unpaid care work and accelerate progress on G

Read more

A right to care to foster quality non-formal education

03.05.23

UN New York - Our oral statement to the UN Commission on Population Development calls for for the recognition of the importance of non formal education, which mostly takes place within families. It includes the

Read more

Global support for recognition of ‘Care as a Right’ gains momentum – MMM teams look back at CSW 2023

27.04.23

UN New York - This year’s priority theme of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) was ‘Innovation, technological change, education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerme

Read more

Women at the peace table: international Conference

14.04.23

Make Mothers Matter, together with the city of Ypres, and its grass roots partners Mothers for Peace, Mama Kivu and the Vrouwenraad, is organizing an international peace Conference Women at the Peace Table, whi

Read more

268 years to close the economic gender gap? It is time to consider CARE as a human right

14.04.23

Care is at the heart of our advocacy work here at MMM, so we were delighted to have the opportunity to put forward our thoughts in this op-ed featured on the OECD Forum Network website.

Read more

Unpaid care work is not a burden

08.04.23

UN Geneva - In recent years, MMM has strongly advocated for eliminating the use of the word ‘Burden’ in association with unpaid care work. Many people have talked and written about the ‘burden of unpaid c

Read more