The on-line global high-level event will mark the global launch of the new ground-breaking ILO report Care at work: Investing in care leave and services for a more gender equal world of work. It will set the ILO and its constituents’ agenda on investing in care policies as part of the global call for investing in the care economy. It will highlight the relevance of care policies also in the context of climate change, infrastructure and sustainable care and green jobs.

The event will feature key tripartite leaders of the world of work and high-level representatives of the ILO and the UN System. It will provide an opportunity to discuss the findings of the report and propose concrete ways forward in realizing the right to care and gender equality at work for all as part of “our common agenda” for sustainable development.

Speakers

Mr Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General
Ms Åsa Regnér, Deputy Executive Director, UN Women (via video recorded message)
Mr Silvestre H. Bello III, Secretary of Labor and Employment, Philippines (via video recorded message)
Mr Samba Sy, Minister of Labour, Social Dialogue and Relations with the Institutions, Republic of Senegal
Ms Luisa María Alcalde, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Mexico
Ms Julie Su, Deputy Secretary of Labor, United States
Mr Rasmus Cruce Naeyé, State Secretary to Minister for Employment and Gender Equality, Sweden
Ms Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
Ms Renate Hornung-Draus, Managing Director, Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA), and Vice-Chairperson of the ILO Governing Body
Ms Sharanjit Leyl, moderator

Background

The new ILO report Care at work: Investing in care leave and services for a more gender equal world of work provides a global overview of national laws and practices regarding care policies, including maternity protection, paternity, parental, long-term and other care-related leave policies, as well as childcare and long-term care services. It reviews progress made around the world over the past decade and assesses the persisting and significant legal gaps that translate in a lack of protection and support for millions of workers with family responsibilities across the world, and adversely impacts the ability of women, in particular, to effectively participate in labour markets.

The report focuses on some of the most frequently excluded workers, such as the self-employed, workers in the informal economy, migrants as well as adoptive and LGBTQI+ parents. It concludes with a call for action to invest in a transformative package of care policies as a crucial element of the investing in the care economy agenda, the breakthrough pathway for building a better and equal world of work.