Publication

This paper argues that the frame of care, linked as it was to the equal sharing of responsibility between men and women, proved an exceptionally expansive one. It successfully united a wide range of actors, including conservative faith-based actors who had mobilized against other gender equality initiatives in the past. This expansive frame facilitated three key advances in care policy at the 53rd session: (i) consensus among Member States and other actors on the significance of care across the UN system, especially in relation to HIV; (ii) consensus on a strong state responsibility; and (iii) consensus on the centrality of care-givers’ participation in debates over policy. The paper closes, though, with a discussion of two issues that received less attention at the 2009 CSW: disability and variations in family formation. These two issues are highly relevant to care debates, at the UN level and elsewhere, and can help move global policy forward in fruitful directions.