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 action is critical for women’s empowerment and to bring about a change to women’s status in society. This can then contribute to a more collective responsibility for unpaid care work between women, men, community and the state. All 4Rs are important and can be done simultaneously and not necessarily sequentially as presented above. Using the 4R framework, and integrating the inputs of the workshop participants, as well as the rights espoused by the international and local instruments, the following recommendations are given to help address the issues in relation to care work: Recommendations to ​represent​ women in care work: 1. Advocate for the recognition of women’s care work​. The Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) and other women’s organizations should altogether build and strengthen awareness on issues related to unpaid care work. Advocacy initiatives should target the government and the public, especially the men, so that women’s efforts in performing unpaid care work for their families are recognized and given value. Efforts should also be conducted to strengthen women’s voice and representation, especially those living in remote rural communities, so that they can take part in the advocacy initiatives on issues that affect them. 20