ZIMBABWE is moving closer to enacting a groundbreaking policy that recognises unpaid care and domestic work, with a high-level summit in Harare calling for urgent action to redistribute women’s invisible labour and promote equality.
The high-level summit on unpaid care and domestic work convened in Harare yesterday brought together over 40 key stakeholders from government, Parliament, civil society and international development partners.
It was organised by the Women’s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence (WALPE) in partnership with the Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development ministry, the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe, Oxfam, Padare Men’s Forum and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
The summit was aimed at accelerating the recognition, reduction and redistribution of unpaid care work through a proposed Unpaid Care and Domestic Work Policy and Bill.
Themed Amplifying Women’s Voices for an Unpaid Care and Domestic Work Policy and Act: A Call to Action, the meeting sought to mobilise a coalition of policymakers, civil society organisations, and researchers to push for legislative and policy reform.
Speaking at the event, IDRC programme officer Eveline Barakay applauded Zimbabwe’s progress in tackling one of the most persistent barriers to gender equality.
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“Care is foundational to economies and societies,” she said.
“It is the labour that keeps people fed, housed, connected and alive. Economies can’t function without care work, both paid and unpaid.”
Barakay said women and girls in Africa performed nearly 70% of all unpaid care work, often with little recognition or compensation.
She called on governments to implement the “five Rs” of care — recognition, reduction, redistribution, reward and representation.
“We need to question the assumption that certain tasks are just women’s work,” she said.
“Redistributing care within households and through policy can empower women, strengthen families and drive economic growth.”
WALPE executive director Sthabile Dewa called for reform, emphasising the importance of valuing unpaid domestic work as a key driver of social and economic stability.
“It values invisible labour, it promotes gender equality, it unlocks opportunities and it strengthens our well-being,” Dewa said.
WALPE has conducted nationwide research and developed a model Unpaid Care and Domestic Work Bill, a gendered devolution framework and a gender-responsive Constituency Development Fund to influence policy change.
She called on the government to increase investment in public infrastructure and social services, particularly in rural areas, to reduce the care burden on women.