Last June Dr. Gloria Novović attended the inception workshop of the Scaling Care Innovations in Africa Initiative, funded by the International Development Research Centre of Canada (IDRC) and Global Affairs Canada. This initiative seeks to address one of the greatest barriers to gender equality: the disproportionate share of responsibility for unpaid care work that falls on women.
The five-day workshop, which took place in Nairobi, gathered representatives from 18 initiatives funded across the African region, as well as feminist academics working on this issue. Dr. Novović and other participants engaged in discussions of a viable research design for a multi-country research project dedicated to radical re-imaginations of micro- and macro-economic models centred around social reproduction.
Women’s disproportionate responsibility for unpaid care work is a key driver of gender inequality in sub-Saharan Africa, and the world over. Feminist researchers working on gender-transformative projects, locally generated data, and African perspectives are needed to move the needle on women’s equality and to guide care policies and interventions. The global research fund is supporting Dr Novović as well as PhD researchers Jackline Kemigisa and Stanley Wanjala to conduct interviews and fully take part in this transformative project that aims to lead to sustained change.
If you are working on an international project and want to discuss how we can support you, contact GAE's Research and Alliances manager Dr Mengxi Pang and watch this space for the next call for applicants in 2024.