rights, opportunities and access to resources, equal sharing of responsibilities for the family by men and women, and a harmonious partnership between them are critical to their well-being and that of their families as well as to the consolidation of democracy” (un.org). Magna Carta of Women - RA 9710 This law requires the government to “promote empowerment of women, pursue equal opportunities for women and men and ensure equal access to resources and to development results and outcome” (Section 2). It also requires that the State “affirms women’s rights as human rights and shall intensify its efforts to fulfill its duties under international and domestic law to recognize, respect, protect, fulfill, and promote all human rights and fundamental freedoms of women, especially marginalized women, in the economic, social, political, cultural, and other fields without distinction or discrimination on account of class, age, sex, gender, language, ethnicity, religion, ideology, disability, education, and status” (Section 2). Section 8 states that “All rights in the Constitution and those rights recognized under international instruments duly signed and ratified by the Philippines, in consonance with Philippine law, shall be rights of woman under this Act to be enjoyed without discrimination.” As such, all women’s rights stated in the various aforementioned instruments should be considered in the course of addressing issues of unpaid care work, especially for rural women. ADDRESSING THE ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN CARE WORK How can the issues and challenges on care work be addressed? Various literature and discussions at the workshop/forum pointed to the use of the 4R framework in addressing unpaid care work. These are: Recognition, Reduction, Redistribution and Representation. Action Aid (2013) defines each “R” as: Recognition – means that the work done by (mainly) women is “seen” and acknowledged by the women themselves and others” (such as the government and the society, particularly men). “It also means that it is recognized as being “work” and “production”. Recognition can take several forms, including provision of compensation for the work, recognizing it when determining other benefits, such as pension payments, or measuring unpaid care work in national statistics. Recognition does NOT mean paying for this work directly through wages. Reduction – means that the burden is reduced for individual women and for the society more generally. This can happen through the service being provided in a different way. For example, women’s childcare burden would be reduced if government provided accessible and affordable child care services. Similarly, unpaid care work would be reduced if services were provided closer to where people live and work so that less time is spent accessing health care and the like. Redistribution – means that the overall amount of unpaid care work remains the same, but it is more fairly shared among different people. One example of this is where male household members take on a greater share of housework and childcare. Another example is where government takes on a greater share of healthcare provision by setting up an effective public healthcare system. Representation – refers to representation of women’s rights violations due to unequal responsibilities for unpaid care work by women themselves. Women recognize the value of their unpaid care work and represent their demands for change before men, community leaders and government. Representation through individual and collective 20