BALANCING UNPAID CARE WORK AND PAID WORK SUCCESSES
BALANCING UNPAID CARE WORK AND PAID WORK: SUCCESSES, CHALLENGES AND LESSONS FOR WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMMES AND POLICIES EXPERIENCES FROM RESEARCH IN THE FIELD: A CASE OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA (RWANDA AND TANZANIA) BY DR JENIPHER TWEBAZE MUSOKE BRAC RESEARCH AND EVALUATION AFRICA NGO CSW/NY FORUM PARALLEL EVENT (22 ND MARCH 2016) www. brac. net
Organisation of the presentation • Research Methodology • Research Methods • Examples of importance of research tools showing individual tools as experiences in the field www. brac. net
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY • Research in four countries in two different regions • Rwanda and Tanzania in Sub-Saharan Africa and India and Nepal in Asia • Choice - to understand the differences and similarities in the social organisation of care between two countries in same regions with similar socio-econ & cultural contexts • Four countries were selected on basis of strong networks, capacity & research priority by our advocacy partners – Action Aid & Oxfam – have strong programmes on women economic empowerment (WEE) • The programmes also provide good opportunities for examining the extent to which non-state WEE programmes take unpaid care into account. www. brac. net
METHODS • Study used mixed methods approach v Collection of Primary qualitative and quantitative data • Quantitative data v Using survey questionnaire administered to households through gender-balanced sample of adult respondents from community • Qualitative data v Key informant interviews with programme staff and community leaders v Focus group discussions with adult programme and nonprogramme participants v Group exercises with women, children & men v Household case studies – women, children and other household members www. brac. net
Methods cont’d SOUTH ASIA India Nepal SUB SAHARAN AFRICA Tanzania Rwanda Total State run programme 2 sites 8 sites Non state (NGO) run programme 2 sites 8 sites Total 4 sites 16 sites www. brac. net
Experiences in the field • Our affiliation with Advocacy partners, Oxfam and Action Aid, facilitated the whole process of cooperation and acceptability in the community • Government officers were good ‘gate-openers’ in the communities in terms of acceptability. The communities were sensitive towards research as research is sometimes used by conmen especially targeting children. www. brac. net
Example of women showing their paid work activity www. brac. net
USE OF RESEARCH METHODS EMPLOYED • The strength of the study tools – used as a method of research uptake by the respondents / community / policy makers • As discussions are between interviewers and respondents, there is conceptualizing of the whole idea of balancing unpaid care work and paid work • Examples follow in this presentation www. brac. net
Experiences in the field - Sub Saharan case • General comments about the study from participants v “I like your research tools. I like how you have combined mini theater and data collection, it is very innovative and I like how it engages the women to think about the realities in their families and communities” Non-state run v “I was worried when you asked to work with children. We had a problem in this community when some people conned parents of their money. The community is very sensitive to working with children. But I was impressed with your tools. It is very clear when I observed from afar that children are doing various activities. No one even here in the ward officers was worried about what you were doing with the children. The school head teacher passed by to see what the children were doing. He smiled to see the children involved in role play” State-run site www. brac. net
Group Discussion with Children www. brac. net
Experiences Cont’d v“Our mothers have a lot of work to do both un paid care work and paid work. They need our help at home so that they do not have to do most of the work alone. Also we are affected by the burden of care work when our mothers are out to do their paid work because we have to go to school and come back hungry sometimes then start doing the care work like cooking, fetching water, collecting firewood which affects our studies because we do not get enough time to do school homework and to rest which affects our performance in school. ” Children group www. brac. net
Group Discussion with women www. brac. net
Methods – Body Map • Initially we thought that people will not be willing to volunteer to have their body sketched out but there was always interest for people to try it. In some cases the facilitator volunteered and a community drew her body. Participants liked as it as the tool helped them reflect on how unpaid care work and paid work affects them. • Male participants realized that scale of care responsibilities & task is tilted more to women and highlighted the need to work towards a balance between men and women. • “We have seen that we need to reduce the burden of work on our women and not make them do all the care activities alone because we have time and are able to help them. ” • “Equality in the community and in our families, the man should help the woman in doing care activities without looking at which work is for who. ” www. brac. net
Example of participation in Body map www. brac. net
Methods – What if and Care Calendar What if • Participants enjoyed the roles of mini theater. This also contributed to identify with the scenarios and motivated a lot of discussion. The competition incorporated the role play that got people actively participate with a lot of energy. People realised need to support unpaid care activities from the roles played. Care calendar • The participants were able to identify with this tool as they are mostly engaged in farming. It was easy to talk about the seasons of the year and it relates with which activities they do in which season and by who. The discussion on how these activities affect their paid and unpaid work was easy for them to comprehend. www. brac. net
Methods – Activity mapping • Good participation and women would write more cards than men. Group dynamics of mixing women and men created some tension. Men would claim to be doing a lot & women would dispute their claims with clear examples. Men always fronted the gender roles as an excuse for not doing some types of works as society expects them to behave that way not because they cannot do it. Writing the cards was better to get women write freely as opposed to when they would discuss it in plenary. Visual display of cards got men to think more about what they do. Care work matrix • This tool helped people to realize the care activities that women do on a regular basis as mothers and as primary care givers in the homes. It was quiet simple to relate those activities with the impacts of doing such activities, that is, physically or emotionally and how that will prohibit someone from doing paid work. www. brac. net
Method – Care Marbles • This tool was very difficult to facilitate. It was very hard for village women to get a firm grip around the concept of care sharing with the state. At some point it felt like you are providing all the answers. However, the tool helped community to assess to what extent the employer or state provides care related services. • “We have also seen that the government is doing so little for the care related services. There is water but it is not enough because its only one tap and there is repair fees when its broken. The schools are also not completely free because you have to pay for certain things like guard fee, buy books and uniforms. Also the health services are not free you have to pay for something” www. brac. net
Method – Public Service Map • Sometimes women were very afraid to volunteer in drawing the map. Mostly it is the male counterparts who had the courage to draw. Also getting consensus on which public service is needed most in the community was always a big discussion. • The tool helped participants to analyze and prioritize the most needed care public service in their area. Community members realized that there is a lot to desire from government to provide some services that help reduce the burden of care giving e. g. reduce the amount of time wasted in water collection by increasing the number of point water sources. • “Water should be extended near households so that people can access it easily” www. brac. net
Example of activity of Public Service Map www. brac. net
Methods – Care Basket and Care Wallet Care basket • Facilitating care basket was a bit dull and concentrates mostly on one participant who is asked all the questions. Other participants lose concentration in the process since they are observers and not active participants. Getting the team to join the discussion is not easy as other tools that involve the whole group. Good ideas were generated in terms of care. Care wallet • The participants easily relate to this tool since they are doing some paid work and they are mixed groups. Interesting when both men and women expressed how the income is used in the household, who decides what should be bought or how the money should be used. Men and women agreed that participation of both decision making on money matters is important but rarely practiced. www. brac. net
Survey questionnaire www. brac. net
THANK YOU www. brac. net
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