The Women’s Economic Empowerment and Care (WE-Care) program is an initiative to increase women’s and girls’ time and choice to participate in social, economic, and political life by transforming how unpaid care and domestic work (UCDW) is valued, shared, and invested in. WE-Care aims to increase the recognition of UCDW in public policy; reduce heavy and time- consuming UCDW through investments in essential public services and infrastructure; redistribute the responsibility for UCDW more equally between men and women and between households and the state; and ensure that women with care responsibilities are represented in the planning and implementation of budgets and policies that affect their lives.The program works towards a just and inclusive society by recognizing, reducing, redistributing, representing, and rewarding unpaid care and domestic work (UCDW). It envisions a world where women and girls have more choice at every stage of their lives and that the work they do is valued. The program has previously been implemented in the Philippines, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya.

Project Details and Framework

WE‑Care
Guided by Oxfam’s Results Framework, Theory of Change, and the 5Rs Framework:

• Recognition
• Reduction
• Redistribution
• Representation
• Rewarding of unpaid care and domestic work (UCDW)

Geographic Focus

• Nairobi County: Githurai, Korogocho, Kawangware
• Kiambu County
• Engagement at county, national, regional, and continental levels

The Problem the Project Is Addressing

Unpaid care and domestic work underpins households, communities, and economies, yet remains largely invisible in policy and public investment.

Key challenges include:

• Women in Kenya spend an average of 11.1 hours per day on unpaid care compared to 2.9 hours for men, reinforcing gender inequality and time poverty.
• Caregivers, including Community Health Promoters and persons with disabilities, face barriers to participating in governance due to inaccessible spaces, limited information, and weak feedback mechanisms.
• County and national budgets inadequately prioritize care‑related infrastructure such as childcare services, water access, disability‑friendly facilities, and GBV‑responsive services.
• Social norms continue to frame care as “women’s work,” excluding men and marginalizing caregivers from economic and leadership opportunities.

As a result, caregivers remain locked out of decision‑making spaces, economic participation, and policy influence.

Theory of Change 

If women, caregivers, youth, and social movements are organized, skilled, and supported to advocate collectively for care, and if governments and private sector actors are engaged through evidence‑based advocacy and dialogue, then:

• Public narratives and social norms around care will shift. 
• Policies, budgets, and investments will become more care‑responsive. 
• Women and girls will gain greater autonomy, voice, and economic empowerment. 

Leading to significant and sustainable improvements in people’s lives.

Key Strategies and Implementation Approach

1. Care Solidarity Networks and Movement Building

Why this strategy:
Globally, unpaid care and domestic work contributes an estimated USD 11 trillion annually to the economy yet remains largely invisible in policy and budgeting. In Kenya, women perform over three times more unpaid care work than men, limiting their participation in paid work, leadership and civic life. Individual caregivers rarely have the power or access to influence public decision-making on their own.

What this achieves for UCDW:
 

Care Solidarity Networks provide an organized, collective platform that:

• Transforms fragmented individual care experiences into a unified public agenda.
• Strengthens caregivers’ capacity to engage governance systems consistently and strategically.
• Anchors advocacy in the 5Rs Framework, ensuring care is addressed holistically rather than through isolated interventions

By building sustained movements, this strategy increases the visibility, legitimacy and political weight of UCDW demands at community and county levels.

2. Male Engagement for Social Norms Transformation

Why this strategy:
Evidence shows that social norms are a primary driver of unequal care distribution. Across Sub-Saharan Africa, women undertake the majority of unpaid care regardless of employment status. Without deliberate engagement of men, care responsibilities remain feminized, reinforcing women’s time poverty and economic exclusion.

What this achieves for UCDW:
Male engagement contributes to:

• Redistribution of care work at household level, a core pillar of the 5Rs.
• Reduction of women’s unpaid workload, freeing time for income-generation, participation, and rest.
• Long-term shifts in attitudes around masculinity, caregiving, and shared responsibility.

This strategy addresses the root causes of unequal care, not just its symptoms.

3. Couples Engagement for Household-Level Redistribution of Care

Why this strategy:
Households are the primary site where care is produced and allocated. Studies show that joint decision-making within couples increases the likelihood of more equitable division of unpaid labour and improves household wellbeing. Yet care discussions are often informal, unspoken, or conflict-driven.

What this achieves for UCDW:
Couples engagement:

• Makes unpaid care visible through shared reflection on time use and workloads.
• Supports negotiated redistribution of care responsibilities.
• Reduces stress, conflict and burnout associated with unequal care burdens.

By working at the household level, this strategy ensures that care advocacy translates into everyday practice and sustained behaviour change.

4. Policy Engagement and Budget Advocacy

Why this strategy:
Despite its economic and social value, unpaid care work is rarely reflected in public finance. Care-related services such as childcare, water, health, and social protection remain under-funded, shifting costs back to households. Budget decisions therefore play a critical role in either reinforcing or reducing care burdens.

What this achieves for UCDW:
Policy and budget advocacy:

• Integrates care priorities into laws, strategies and fiscal frameworks.
• Promotes investment in care-supporting infrastructure and services that reduce unpaid workloads.
• Positions caregivers as rights-holders and legitimate contributors to policy processes.

This strategy advances the public provision of care, a key pathway for reducing unpaid care work.

5. Care, Justice, and Public Services

Why this strategy:
Women experiencing violence or poverty often face compounded care burdens including responsibility for children, sick family members, or dependents. Weak care infrastructure within public institutions increases barriers to reporting violence, accessing justice and seeking protection.

What this achieves for UCDW:
Linking care and justice:

• Highlights how unpaid care responsibilities deepen vulnerability and exclusion.
• Strengthens demand for care-responsive public services.
• Promotes integrated responses that recognize care as essential to safety, dignity, and access to rights.

This strategy ensures care is embedded within broader justice and protection systems.

6. Disability Inclusion and Inclusive Economic Empowerment

Why this strategy:
Persons with disabilities are often excluded from both care and economic policy discussions, despite evidence that households with persons with disabilities face higher care demands and increased poverty risk. At the same time, persons with disabilities are caregivers whose contributions remain unrecognized.

What this achieves for UCDW:
A disability-inclusive approach:

• Recognizes the unpaid care contributions of persons with disabilities.
• Challenges narratives that frame disability solely as dependency.
• Strengthens advocacy for inclusive labour markets, social protection, and care-support systems.

This strategy ensures UCDW advocacy reflects intersectionality and equity, reinforcing the principle of “leave no one behind.”

Overall Results and Value Addition

Through WE‑Care Phase V, the project has:

• Organized fragmented caregiver voices into credible advocacy networks.
• Increased meaningful participation of caregivers in policy and budget processes.
• Engaged men and boys as allies in redistributing care work.
• Elevated unpaid care as a governance, economic, and justice issue.
• Strengthened the evidence base for care‑responsive policies and investments.