6th plenary meeting - 64th Session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD64)

Good morning. The sixth meeting of the 64th session of the Commission for Social Development is called to order. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, I invite the Commission to resume its consideration of agenda item 3C, entitled "Emerging issues: eradicating poverty and ensuring dignity through resilient care and support systems," in order to hold a panel discussion. We will begin with the segment one of the panel under the theme, eradicating poverty and promoting decent work through comprehensive care and support systems. I am pleased to welcome the distinguished panelists of our discussion. Ms. Li Xin, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China and Associate Researcher at the International Poverty Reduction Center. Ms. Shelley Ann Edwards, Director of Social Protection and Gender at the Planning Institute of Jamaica; Ms. Violet Shiwuza, Founder Director at Shibuya Community Health Workers; and Ms. Lauren Whitehead, Social Protection and Gender Lead at the UNICEF Global Technical Team on Care and Family-Friendly Policies. I'm also pleased to welcome the moderator, Mr. Jose Antonio Ocampo, professor of professional practice in international and public affairs at Columbia University. Before I hand over the floor to the moderator, I wish to remind the panelists to please keep within their allocated time limit of seven minutes per presentation and delegations to keep within the three minute time limit or even less during the interactive discussion. I thank participants for their understanding. Mr. Ocampo, the floor is yours.

Well, thank you. Thank you, Madam Moderator. Let me also greet all the panelists as well as the participants. It's a great honor for me to be in this panel of the Commission. I would like to thank all the distinguished panelists for accepting the invitation to speak this morning and share their expertise with us. Today, we turn our attention to the topic of care and support systems and how they can be strategic drivers of the eradication of poverty, social inclusion, and social development more broadly. There is increasing recognition of the multifaceted contributions of care and support systems. Two years ago, this Commission adopted a resolution acknowledging their role in social development and urging Member States to make progress toward establishing comprehensive care and support systems. They promote the dignity of care and support recipients with better developmental outcomes for children as well as an enhanced well-being for persons with disabilities and older persons. They promote decent work, increased participation of women in the labor markets, and better access to social protection. Successful care and support systems also require smart policy designs with focus on coordination across ministries, adequate and sustainable financing, and sustained political commitment. We will explore all these aspects in two segments of our panel discussion today. First, we will focus on eradicating poverty and promoting decent work through comprehensive care and support systems. This first segment will take a deep dive on the impact of comprehensive care and support systems in the labor markets, both for paid and current unpaid care work. The panelists will discuss how comprehensive care and support systems contribute to social development by expanding opportunities for decent work and increasing access to social protection with multiplier effects for poverty eradication as recognized by the Doha Declaration adopted by the member states during the second World Summit for Social Development last November. Our speakers will address questions such as first, What are the decent work opportunities unlocked by comprehensive care and support systems? Second, how can policy coordination and support equitable outcomes in care work? Third, what is the role of social and solidarity economy in comprehensive care and support systems? And fourth, what are some good practices in establishing care and support systems and their financing in particular? I would kindly ask all the distinguished panelists as our chair already said, to keep their initial statements and presentation to a maximum of seven minutes. After your presentation, I will ask a follow-up question. Once we have heard from all the panelists, the floor will be open for discussion. And with that, I would like to start the discussion by inviting Ms. Li Xing, the Deputy Director and Associate Researcher of the Institute of Poverty Reduction Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China to give her remarks. You have the floor.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Mr. Moderator. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, it's my pleasure to participate in the discussion on eradicating poverty and ensuring dignity through resilient care and support systems. The Doha Political Declaration adopted at the second World Summit emphasized the linkages between care and support systems, decent work and poverty eradication. Here, I'd like to share China's policy measures and practical experiences in promoting employment and achieving poverty eradication through comprehensive support policies. Poverty has never been merely a lack of income, but the deprivation of capabilities, the absence of opportunities, and the eroding of dignity, which brings about a series of social development issues. The Chinese government has always prioritized the poverty reduction in its governance agenda. Since the reform and opening up in 1979, China has successfully lifted over 800 million people out of poverty, contributing more than 70% to global poverty reduction. Particularly since the 18th National Congress of the ruling party in 2012, Chinese President, His Excellency Mr. Xi Jinping, he conducted an inspection tour to Hunan province. And you can see from the picture at the right, President Xi is sitting with an elder lady. She's from the minority group in Hunan, Miao ethnic group. And this old lady has, during her lifetime, hasn't had the chance to visit the nearby county. And she has no television in her house, so she didn't know President Xi. She asked, who are you? So President Xi told, I'm your public servant. Why are you calling my home? I'm here to see what can I do for you. So by that year, he initiated the targeted poverty alleviation. So for the first time in China, we achieved accurate poverty identification. So for all our developing countries, we share the same challenge. We have limited resources to find out who is poor and allocate the necessary assistance to the identified impoverished population is of vital importance. So after eight years of fight, by the end of 2020, China won the battle against poverty. We eradicated absolute poverty and achieved the number one goal of the UN 2030 agenda, 10 years ahead of schedule. So when I meet with my peer colleagues from African countries, from our neighboring Southeast countries, they always ask me one question. What's your, uh, what's your secret? How did you do that? So I always tell them that we transmit the political commitment of our top leaders into action. So President Xi led the fight against poverty, and we find each and every impoverished people in China. We establish a national database covering all the poor households, and we identify the root causes of poverty. We designate the personnel to help them. We only find out there are 128,000 poor villages in China. Each and every village, we send a working team. So the working team will work there, live there with fellow villagers. And after two to three years, when this village escape poverty, they will go back to their original position. So through all these measures, we eradicated absolute poverty. So what is targeted poverty alleviation strategy? This means we targeted the identified poor. We precisely make the project. It's a tailor-made one, suited to their challenges. And also the measures and personnel dispatch, they are also implemented in a measurable way. So what are the five approaches? First, we boost the economy to provide more job opportunities, this is the main theme of today's discussion, I'll elaborate a little bit later. So in poverty alleviation policy system in China, poverty alleviation through employment plays a very important role. We establish a precise employment assistance mechanism, focusing on accurate survey, training, supply and demand matching, the policy implementation. First, efforts are made to conduct accurate surveys and improve the employment information, supply and demand database for labor force that has been lifted out of poverty. Second, efforts are made to achieve precise matching and promote the orderly transfer and employment of the impoverished labor force. According to our National Statistics Bureau, we have maintained the employment scale of 30 million labor force from the registered impoverished population in the past five years. So each year we maintain the scale of employment. Otherwise, they will fall back to poverty. So the support and the care system played a very important role in this regard. Third, efforts are made to implement targeted policies and prevent employment stability risks. To help the impoverished population expand employment opportunities, five key measures have been implemented. First, promoting industrial development to create more jobs. Second, creating diverse employment support platforms, such as rural industrial workshops, contract-based agricultural bases, informal employment organizations, and small and micro business parks, et cetera. Third, supporting entrepreneurship to boost the employment. We support and guide migrant workers, college graduates, veterans to start their own business so that they can create more job opportunities for the registered impoverished population. And fourth, creating public welfare positions. and these will be invested by the government. So government provide subsidies to provide these welfare jobs. Fifth, labor export and transfer employment. We have innovative and institutional arrangement that is to strengthen the support from the more developed coastal eastern regions to the less developed central and western So the different regions, they pair up to help create more jobs. And based on China's employment-driven poverty alleviation practices, we have summarized the following four aspects for employment-driven policy measures and approaches that might be of some reference value. First, institutional coordination. And second, differentiated strategy to suit the local conditions. Third one, that is the information sharing. And fourth, development philosophy. China's employment-driven poverty alleviation has always been a people-centered one. So we helped our people. and safeguard their rights to survival and development. And here, I'd like to show you a video clip on how we helped our young people to find jobs.

到深圳学习技能，我们实行工.

学交替，边学理论边在企业实操，一.

年内就从基层成长为制造部.

组长，月薪达到8900，并在.

2024年被评为盐田机潜力型工匠。

这一路是政府、.

学校与企业三方合力，让我实现了从迷茫少.

年到技术骨干的成长。

我曾经非常迷茫，觉得人生可能就这样按部就班的过下去，但现在。

I'm sorry, so my time limit is used up, but I'd like to see from these young people, you can see they are not only the single one, they have 8 million youngsters in China. We helped them to rebuild their confidence and find a job and they can support their families and themselves. And finally, I would like to invite you to join the Global Partnership for Poverty Alleviation and Development, abbreviated for GPAD. We can jointly work together to promote UN 2030 Development Agenda and the Global Development Initiative. It's an international platform advocated by China and the Global South. So if you are interested, I would like to send our invitation. And thank you.

Well, thank you, Ms. Li, for your very important message. And let me ask you a follow-up question. The follow-up questions, I must say, have two minutes for time for response. So from the Chinese experience, what are the greatest contributions of care and support systems for poverty eradication?

So the question direct. Okay. Uh, thank you, Mr. Moderator, it's a very good question, I'd like to stress this, to address this question in the following aspects, first, I think our, uh, support and care system, uh, uh, helps those impoverished population by providing multidimensional social security care, namely two worry-frees and three guarantees. We support them to worry-free from food and clothing and safe drinking water. And also we provide education, health care, and safe housing for them. So the system is very important. And second one, we prevent the people escaped from poverty from falling back again. So we have a national monitoring and assistance system, which is an information database. And we can help them. And all the vulnerable groups will be taken care of. So much for my feedback. Thank you.

Well, thank you again for your answer. And I now invite our next speaker, Ms. Shelly-Ann Edwards, Director of Social Protection and Gender in the Planning Institute of Jamaica, to deliver her presentation.

Thank you, Mister Moderator, Chair, distinguished ladies and gentlemen. Good morning. Greetings from Jamaica on behalf of the Planning Institute of Jamaica and the Government of Jamaica. Thank you for this opportunity to be a part of this distinguished panel and the discussion. I'd like to start by noting the LNOB concept, which we have all decided to agree on. Leaving no one behind is the central transformative promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its SDGs. It represents the unequivocal commitment of all UN member states to eradicate poverty in all its forms, end discrimination and exclusion, and reduce the inequalities and vulnerabilities that leave people behind and undermine the potential of individuals and of humanity as a whole. This is a very important concept for our discussion. So what are care and support systems? Historically, they are cultural phenomenon that evolved from home and community to a broader, more complex care economy. They are based on cultural norms of family nurture with women and girls as main caregivers, a significant proportion of whom are unpaid, especially among lower consumption groups. The care economy now embraces homes, communities, business interests, producers, service providers, with the government, the private sector, and non-government organizations being partners. So why are comprehensive care policies and systems important? They're important because of demographic trends across Latin America and the Caribbean region. Comprehensive systems for care are becoming integral to social protection and development. Aging populations are exhibiting care needs that are also applicable to younger, older citizens, and also increasing disability and chronic morbidity within populations. Labor market opportunities require various levels of skills and specializations. They are important also because of our national and global commitments to rights-based approaches to social protection and poverty reduction in keeping with LNOB and the SDGs. So we see there is an increasing youth, working age, and elderly population, and a declining child population. And this is also obvious in Jamaica, where we see this trend moving from the 1960s to present and beyond. These are my key takeaway. Care and support systems are dynamic, and they are country specific. policy framework is absolutely critical for a common definition of care and support, to enhance coordination, to define roles, to ensure policy coherence, and to define financing modalities. Care systems should take advantage of cultural affinities for care, support, training, certification and remuneration without discounting the social value of unpaid care services for family and community cohesion. It is important to support decent work, poverty reduction, social protection, and ensure no one is left behind in development. In Jamaica, the concept of care is built into our social protection and poverty reduction landscape. It is evidenced in our Jamaica social protection strategy and our definition of social protection. It is also what drives the vision for poverty reduction in our poverty reduction policy. It says every Jamaican is consuming goods and services above the minimum acceptable national standards. And has equal and equitable opportunities and support to achieve and maintain income security and improved quality of life. That's the vision for poverty reduction. We have several pieces of legislation and policy documents that help to shape this framework for poverty reduction, care and social protection. These include our social protection strategy, our policy on poverty and national poverty reduction program, the recently launched multidimensional poverty index, and we also developed a national poverty production, LNOB toolkits, all within the framework of Vision 2030 Jamaica, our national development plan, and the SDGs. So in terms of context, There are several policies, as I mentioned, in areas such as poverty, social protection, looking at seniors, population and sustainable development, health, education, gender, disability, and labor market, to name a few. These are there and help to support the care system in various ways. However, there is no comprehensive care policy. There is, however, discussion around a care policy for senior citizens, which has been driven by the National Social Protection Committee and a policy paper written by the Planning Institute of Jamaica in 2024. There are also no comprehensive sector studies covering the care economy or identifying jobs in this sector. However, the Ministry of Health and Wellness in collaboration with the PIOJ and PAHO are currently conducting a health and labor market analysis and we anticipate that this will give give us some information. On care paid work, Unpaid care work needs to be further researched, particularly in its qualitative dimensions and the characteristics of community involvement. The care economy also needs to be defined. It needs to be measured and marketed so that its significance to GDP would be better appreciated and its potential as an economic driver could be realized. for example, in areas such as health tourism, geriatric and palliative care services and facilities. We also need to ensure the preparation of workers for the global economy, embracing certification and training, including for informal care workers. We could consider a program for home caregivers with training and certification, including psychosocial support and stipend, as a possibility for supporting poverty reduction and decent work in this area. Innovative community models with certified professionals providing daycare for younger or older citizens, including persons with disabilities and mental illness, would be important, freeing up others to pursue jobs outside of the home. We also need to look at reframing gender socialization regarding care within, through public education and so on. We also need to ensure that we underscore employment opportunities in this sector and poor households can tap into these. Decent work approaches and the just transition of jobs for the green economy may impact greater labor market participation, and the care economy would be poised to create some of these jobs. Just a minute on financing. All financing modalities are country specific and will need to be innovative and accountable. And all models, of course, will have challenges to be surmounted. Governments can look at taxation systems, other sources of revenue. social security programs, including investment in social security funds, long-term care insurance and national health insurance provisions, social welfare provisions, social community care models, as well as enhancing government budgets through economic growth and increased partnerships. At the citizen level, private wealth, social security contributions, and government social assistance protection will be important. I thank you.

So, are you finished?

Yes, thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Okay, thank you very much, Ms. Edward, for your insightful intervention. And I would like actually to ask you a floor, but since you covered it in your presentation, maybe it can be very short. In Jamaica, are there any strategies for increasing access to social protection for unpaid caregivers, particularly women.

Okay, strategies for increasing provisions for on care, care workers in the informal sector. So as I mentioned, There is a cultural phenomenon where we anticipate that women in the household will care for older parents, persons with disabilities, and others as a part of their own commitment. But we are ensuring that we put in place strategies that will help to support social provide social protection for the those who are being cared for as well as those who provide the care we also enhance access to employment as noted by the representative from China for women and youth to be engaged in the labor market. Our labor market participation is increasing and we have on record the lowest unemployment rate for decades. So we ensure that through our poverty reduction strategies, our social protection policies, there is empowerment, especially for women within households. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. And next, we will hear from Ms. Violet Chibute, the founder director of Chibute Community Health Workers of Kenya, to take the floor. You have the floor.

Thank you so much. Distinguished guests, I'm so humbled to be speaking in today's 64th session of the Social Development as a caregiver. I am a caregiver, a grassroot woman that learned to grow as a caregiver because of the increased burden of care during the peak of HIV/AIDS. when the social adjustment programs had really hit Africa and that for the first time Africa was supposed to pay for health services, which we were not paying, and then HIV came. So many sick people were, many people were sick in homes, a number of orphans, increased number of orphans. So we found ourself as grassroots women taking the burden of care really seriously and we had to organize in groups. I like giving this genesis because sometimes history tells us where we have come from and what we can actually do to learn from the mistakes that have happened, that have really impacted on the lives or have continued to increase poverty. My community-based organization is a member of the Wairu Commission. Wairu Commission is a global movement of grassroots women-led organizations. And we have a total of over 230,000 grassroots women that are organized in care, responding to different issues related to care, as I said. HIV/AIDS pandemic, we saw COVID, we have seen where we have disasters that are related to climate change. We have grassroots women that have often come up as frontliners to ensure that they provide, they respond to the floods and many issues and rescue people and continue to even ensure that people are secure in places, providing food and many others. but also building resilient, and that is at the center of our work. How we ensure that we are building resilient to ensure that communities can continue living, the lives can continue. This has actually really happened because of our organized groups and the strong leadership that the grassroots women make, which is usually forgotten in many on many tables where discussions around care is happening. For us, care is not just a health pandemic. It is not just caring for people in your house as a mother. We go beyond that to ensure that we are caring for people out of our families. In situations where we have total lack of basic services in rural community, lack of weak, very weak social protection in these communities, so the caregivers remain the only solution that can be able to respond to the needs of the people and organize the community and even organize the local leaders to be able to ensure that life can continue during times of crisis. This is not actually something that is really easy, because usually when we are discussing issues around poverty, the kind of poverty that we experience as grassroots women, the kind of support that we provide in communities, discussions around poverty do not speak incoherent with the issues that we are facing at the community level. They don't actually address the real needs that we are fighting with at the community level and the struggles of women. we have been able to actually really bring out the issues that sometimes are not seen. Like for example, when you are talking about care, you don't see the farmer in it. For us in Africa, if you are a caregiver, you are not just going to give food, but you are supposed to produce food in a farm and be able to continue doing all the processes until the food comes to the table. This is something that is really not usually acknowledged when we are talking about the role of women in care. In 2006, we led a big study called Compensation for Contribution of Grassroots Caregivers. We looked at how much work the grassroots women are doing on care, the kind of activities they're involved in, like a weekly calendar, and we were able to cost the resources which even the time that the grassroots women are using in resources and justify how much resources that the grassroots women put on the on the table and how much money that comes from development part uh uh development partners to support care and for sure you we had a very huge gap on the invisible resources that the grassroots women are contributing day to day in care that no one talks about instead the people that are counted are the other people that are whatever they put in like money directly, but not all this time that the women are doing in this service that is voluntary. When we talk about compensation and recognition of grassroots caregivers, people look at things like how are we going to pay this huge number of women that are doing care. For us, we are calling for being able to ensure that the grassroots women caregivers innovations like the cooperatives that the grassroots women are doing. Uh the activities that they are doing to be able to support these families are supported directly and not just counting on how you renumerate to ensure that they are getting salaries. Salary is one thing but the real money that is supposed to support the work of grassroots women or in the initiatives that they are doing. Uh is actually really missing. The grassroots women are organized. Sometimes people say that we fragmented, we work in small groups, but we have built very strong alliances that make us be able to get coordinated. Currently, as we speak, we are members of the Global Alliance on Care through Wairu Commission, where we amplify the voices of grassroots women caregivers. We also shape the agenda of caregiving. We have led discussions like 2024. We organize a very big forum that brought together development partners, and caregivers in a global summit to show the contribution of caregivers and even look at the current trend of development, the current trend of where money is going to support communities and what are the needs of the communities. And it actually really went very well to inform how planning can happen. These are some of the things that we would really wish to continue doing even with our governments. But the spaces for grassroots caregivers to engage with governments the spaces for grassroots women to engage in a more comprehensive way, not just sharing a testimony, I'm a caregiver, I care for this number of people and putting us in the con in the vulnerability like you are helpless, woman struggling there, but where you can be able to show the leadership of grassroots women as caregivers and the transformation that we are making in communities every time, every time, these are the spaces that are missing. Usually we come as just in development. The grassroots women role in caregiving cannot continue to be looked at as targets, as vulnerable. We need to be looked at what kind of leadership are we providing in the community and how can we tap in this leadership in the discussions around poverty eradication. What are we already doing to ensure that We are making ends meet at the community level, where most development partners cannot even reach and sleep even for one day. But the grassroots caregivers are changing and transforming these communities every day. We are looking at how we are dealing with issues of water. We are looking at how we are dealing with issues of the elderly people that are in our communities, like the time of the COVID-19, the number of people that would not leave home to even go and pick their medicine. The role that the grassroots caregiver are doing to ensure that these people can continue to take the medicine and the kind of partnership we establish between this. caregiver groups and the other partners like the local authority or even the hospitals. These are really the things that should come to the table. And as caregivers, I want to say, we are really committed to continue working together in a more partnership that is meaningful, that reorganizes us as key players and not just targets in development. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much for your presentation. Let me ask you a follow-up question. How can a community-led care initiative such as yours contribute to and participate in the structuring of care and support systems at the local and national levels?

Yes, I had mentioned earlier that we are organized in groups. And for example, in Kenya, we'll talk about the Home-Based Care Alliance, which is in many other African countries, like 11 countries. And through these groups, we have a well-coordinated structure of leadership that can sit and engage in the government. Some of the platforms that we would wish to engage is budget. making processes. Uh because this is where money is discussed. Uh how money is allocated in government. Uh in government budget for the that particular annual year. These are places that we can go. We would also wish to be really part of monitoring. The care systems that are in country because governments put sometimes systems but then they don't bring us in to be able to monitor. So we can actually provide the monitoring on how the care systems are working, how social protection is working, and also even learning from the innovations that we have already developed, instead of reinventing the wheel, but building on what we already have to be able to strengthen social protection in relation to care. Thank you.

Well, thank you very much. And I will give the turn now to our final speaker in this panel, Ms. Lorraine Whitehead, the Social Protection and Child Lead at UNICEF. You have the floor.

Thank you very much. Thank you to the moderator. Thank you to the chair. And greetings to all of our distinguished colleagues and guests here, ladies and gentlemen. I find that I have a very tough act to follow, coming from all three of my fellow panelists who have spoken today, and especially coming from my colleague from Kenya, speaking from the perspective of caregivers, caregivers not only in Kenya, not only in Africa, but globally. I will try, in my humble esteem, to try to bring together some of the concepts that we've heard today, especially focusing on what the role is of care and support systems in poverty reduction. poverty alleviation, as we heard from our colleague from China, especially thinking about the role of this body and considering how we leave no one behind across populations of those who receive care, as well as those who provide care, which was spoken on by my colleague from Jamaica and the focus on rights-based social protection. And then, of course, particularly the role that caregivers themselves, including different forms of social workers, play within communities providing care outside of the family unit and what the role is and the responsibility is of governments through social protection to supplement that work that happens at community level and household level. I believe my slides I hope you can see that. So as we know, and as everyone has mentioned here today, everyone at some point in their lives has needed care. All of us began as young infants, young children, and therefore needed care during those times. And we think this is important to demonstrate the foundation that this is not an issue that is unique to any one group. It is something that is collectively shared across the human population. Everyone will at some point in their lives need support, whether or not you are a person who's living with a disability now or a person who enters into older age. And increasingly with the life expectancy globally of the current population trends of colleagues living, colleagues, excuse me, of people living longer and longer and thinking about aging prospects, as some of my colleagues here have mentioned today, everyone will need some form of support. At UNICEF, we distinguish between care and support to recognize that there are many dimensions of care, as we've heard of today, providing for daily needs, providing tasks on behalf of others, caring for children, caring for families, et cetera. And those individuals who require support are persons with disability and older persons who still have agency and the ability to operate with independence and therefore need to be supported and not necessarily cared for, as you would refer to with a child. We do know that poverty is exacerbated by having a lack of robust care and support systems, policies and programs in place. If we look at the scale of the global challenge, we know that around one in five children are residing in households making under $3 a day. We know that nearly 900 million children are living in multidimensional poverty. And we know that three in four children, so 75% almost of the world's children, have no access to any form of social protection whatsoever. At the same time, recognizing the challenges that we face in care and support, we have heard from multiple colleagues here today the role that women, and I would include as well girls, tend to play in the provision of unpaid care for the household and at community level. That is part of why we recognize that every day girls spend around 160 million more hours on unpaid care than boys do in their households, and these numbers are replicated as they proceed into womanhood later in life. We also recognize that mothers of children with disabilities are 3 to 11% less likely to work than mothers of children without disabilities because of those caregiving responsibilities. And also the number of women and girls who lack access to social protection is around 2 billion. So if we design, well design care and support systems, these can actually benefit everyone. So we know that they can benefit women and girls so that they can participate more fully in education and economic opportunities. and access family friendly policies, care and support policies and programs, but they also support men and boys so that they are able to engage as part of the caregiving, as part of the group of caregivers within their homes and households and communities, as I believe we also have heard mentioned here today. Care and support policies and systems also support persons with disabilities so that they can cover the additional costs that come with having disabilities and have equal and equitable opportunities on par with other individuals. And we know that care and support policies and aging societies, especially support older persons to live dignified lives and to live independently as well. But there is an inherent tension in providing more, better and high quality access to care and support and caregiving within households. at the same time as reducing the burden and the responsibility of unpaid care that households bear by supplementing with what social protection can provide, that governments can provide in supporting care and support systems, in facilitating care and support systems. There are five different components we often think of when we consider what is a comprehensive care and support system and what's a part of that ecosystem. That ranges from everything such as indirect support, having access to inclusive education so all children can attend school and don't need to be necessarily home with a caregiver once they are of school going age. That's around social norm support, as we've heard mentioned today here, the gender implications, for example, the age implications as it relates to understandings of cultural sensitivity, sensitivities and affinities around caregiving, legal and policy support, for example, job protections, access to family friendly policies, so that when you do have a child, for example, you are able to go back to work. Direct support, which can be in the form of personal assistance, assistive technologies for persons with disabilities, or access to childcare, affordable, subsidized childcare, which we know is a key burden that many families face around the world. And of course, financial support, which is a pinnacle of social protection, having access to child benefits, maternity benefits, disability benefits, family allowances that enable households to provide care in the ways in which are most culturally and relevant and appropriate for them in their households. Therefore, we truly believe that social protection is a fundamental building block of multi-sectoral care and support systems. When we talk about social protection as a fundamental building block, we do not disregard other sectors and the key contributions from the health sector, from the education sector, etc. But we do know that integrated social protection is foundational. If you think about this from a perspective of policies, programs, delivery of social protection, and of course, the human especially through the social service workforce, you see that social protection is able to provide many of the key elements that we would expect to be a part of a functioning care and support system, particularly when that is well integrated into social protection. So it's not an add-on, it's not an additionality, but it is part of the system. And being able to provide the financial support, being able to provide linkages to the direct support, et cetera, that families need, that households need, and that communities need in order to provide care and support. If we look at a social protection framework and we consider some of those key elements that you would tend to see in a well-integrated social protection framework, for example, access to national insurance, access to family allowances, access to employment, jobs and skills, as we have heard today, you see how the care and support system intersects so closely with that very same system. So in providing support for subsidized childcare, for example, in providing a policy foundation and framework for job protections, for access to national paid parental leave, and in providing access to things like disability benefits and maternity benefits, as I've said. So these two very much dovetail together in a quite integrated fashion. I will close just by mentioning a bit on the social service workforce. As my colleague from Kenya has mentioned here today, there are many different forms and shapes that caretakers and caregivers take within different communities, and at societal level. One particular permutation of this is in the social service workforce, which is the cadre of individuals who are employed as social workers by the government, but can also be community-based social workers. These individuals are critical to the provision of care and support systems, not only for the direct caregiving that they can provide, but also for the referrals, the linkages, and the resources that they provide at community level, which is why there needs to be increased financing supporting and budgeting of the social service workforce through national governments and through local governments, whether that workforce is national in nature, local in nature, or community-based in nature. I won't go into detail here because I want to ensure that we have plenty of time for discussion. But I thank you for your time, and I appreciate the comments and questions that will follow. Thank you very much.

Well, thank you very much, Anna. Let me ask you a follow-up question. A family-oriented lens is crucial for the successful care and support system. How does this relate into the design of social policies?

The family lens and how this relates to the design of social policies. Yes, happy to speak to this. Just to say that when we think about social protection and we think about the provision of social protection, we need to think about concentric circles. So thinking about the role that government plays, thinking about the role that community plays, thinking about the role that households and our families play, and then the role that individuals play and how we can support each of those levels in the provision of comprehensive care and support systems. So there needs to be a foundation that is built upon policies, financing, budgeting, and programming from the national government and local government level that then supports those who are within the community level in the provision of care and the supporting of different functions of how that care is provided. That can also include bringing in private sector engagement, which I know we have not spoken about extensively today to therefore support the next concentric circle, which is around the household and the families who do not need to be the only providers of care and do not need to shoulder the only burden of care as they are caring for their families and those individuals within their families who will become active economic agents, active societal agents, et cetera, that contribute to the wider fabric of society, which is why we believe that this is a duty and a responsibility of governments as much as it is of individuals in their households and their families to provide for caregiving policies and programs.

Well, yeah, thank you very much for your answer. Now, I now invite the delegations wishing to make comments, to pose questions, or to make comments. And let me say that due to the time constraints, we will have to limit the interventions to three minutes per participant. I mean, following on the, whoever has asked for the floor, First of all, I'll give.

The floor to the Vice Minister of Social Development of Guatemala for her statement.

Madam Chair, Excellencies, and panelists, thank you for such inspiring presentations today. For Guatemala, eradicating poverty is not only a development objective. In a country where over 57% of the population lives in multidimensional poverty, It is a question of dignity, equity, and the legitimacy of the social contract. Poverty persists not only because we lack commitment, but because fragmented responses, weak coordination, and insufficient use of evidence have too often limited the scale and sustainability of our impact. That is why Guatemala has taken a step forward placing evidence-based policy making at the center of its social agenda. We are strengthening the use of administrative data, territorial diagnostics, and results monitoring to design policies that respond to real needs, prioritize the most vulnerable populations, and allow us to adapt interventions based on what works and what does not work. Evidence is not a technical luxury nowadays. It is a moral imperative when public resources and human lives are at stake. In this context, Guatemala has advanced an intersectoral strategy known as Mano a Mano, hand to hand. This initiative brings together multiple ministries and institutions to address poverty in a comprehensive manner, combining income support, nutrition, health, education, housing improvements, and access to basic services. Manu A Mano recognizes that poverty is multidimensional and territorial, and that no single program or institution can address it in isolation. By aligning social protection with health, education, food security, and local infrastructure, we aim not only to immediate deprivations, but also to build resilient care and support systems that accompany families throughout their life cycle. This approach strengthens state presence in historically excluded territories and restores dignity by ensuring that public action reaches people in a coordinated way. However, we must also be honest. We cannot eradicate poverty through social protection alone if it operates within an economic model that is increasingly exhausted, a model that generates growth without inclusion, productivity without decent work, and wealth without shared opportunity. So the critical question before us is this: how can social protection truly help eradicate poverty if the underlying economic model continues to reproduce exclusion? And even more importantly, how do we reconcile inclusive growth strategies with robust social protection systems so that they reinforce rather than substitute one another? Answering this question requires rethinking how we connect economic policy, labor markets, care systems, and social protection into a single coherent development pathway, one that places dignity, resilience, and shared prosperity at its core. Guatemala stands ready to engage in this collective reflection and action. I thank you.

Thank you very much. We have a a long leak of speakers I'm going to ask for 10 minutes each because otherwise they uh we will not have the time uh so I now give the floor to the the deputy Minister of family labor and social policy of Poland.

Thank you very much, distinguished panelists. Our short priority is clear, to eradicate poverty and to ensure dignity for all. Investment in social policy should never be seen only a cost. It is in fact a strategic investment in social resilience, in economic stability, and above all, in people. Poland's experience illustrates this priority well. Over the past 30 years, Poland has undergone a very long journey of socio-economic transformation. In the 90s and the beginning of the 21st century, the challenges Poland faced included poverty, structural unemployment, the informal labour market, and insufficient social protection for many social groups. Poland has successfully addressed these challenges and can serve as a model for how to tackle them while simultaneously supporting economic growth. Today, Poland Poland ranks fourth in the European Union for the lowest risk of poverty or social exclusions. 20 years ago, in 2005, the extreme poverty rate was in Poland 12.3 percent, and the statutory poverty rate was about 18 percent. After 20 years, these factors changed radically. Now, the statutory poverty rate is 2.6 percent, and extreme poverty is only 5 percent. This progress did not happen by chance, over the past 20 years, poverty in our country has been substantially reduced through targeted and sustained social policy measures aimed at improving access to essential resources and services across society. The key of this success has laid mainly in effective use of Poland membership of the EU, mainly through participation in the four freedoms that enabled the economy to prosper and strengthen the labor market. The introduction of a model of universal benefit with benefits without income criteria, such as the Family 800+ program, which provides a monthly payment for every child, the Active Parent program, which supports parents of children under the age of three with child care and the Good Start program, which provides a one-off payment to all pupils starting a new school year. The next factors were the introduction of new benefits dedicated to older people, like a flagship program, a widow pension, dedicated to widowers and widows, or additional every year pension, and also a labor market policy that maintains a high level of the minimum wage relative to average wage, thereby reducing in-work poverty, because the minimum wage the average wage in Poland exceeds 50% of the average salary. It doesn't mean that we do not face nowadays challenges concerning poverty. Many of them was many of them were mentioned in the note prepared for this discussion and during interventions of distinguished panelists. Eradication of poverty is a challenge for all countries, and that is the reason Poland wants to share its experience and learn from other countries' experience. Thank you.

I now give the floor to the Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection population of Azerbaijan.

Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, the delegation of the Republic of Azerbaijan welcomes the opportunity to participate in today's discussion on this important issue. In an era of deepening globalization, the international community continues to face an expanding range of interrelated challenges. including armed conflicts, climate change, economic volatility, and rapid technological transformation. These developments increasingly affect social cohesion, labor markets, and the resilience of national social protection system. In this context, strengthening inclusive and sustainable social protection system remains a central priority of Azerbaijan national policy. Guided by the leadership of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the government has implemented comprehensive social reforms, aid, and improving citizens' well-being and ensuring broad coverage of vulnerable population groups. Azerbaijan remains fully committed to the effective implementation of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The objective of ending poverty in all its forms is at the core of Azerbaijan development strategy, as I mentioned. To advance this goal, Azerbaijan adopted Azerbaijan 2030, national priorities for social economic development, and implemented social economic development strategy for 2022-2026. These frameworks have supported structural reforms, strengthening social protection mechanism, and contributed to inclusive economic growth. Building on these achievements, work is currently underway to a new social economic development strategy, which covers the period of 2027 to 2030. As a result of five consecutive social reform packages implemented between 2018-2025, which was supported by intervention of approximately of 8 billion manat directly from the budget. Wages, pensions, and social benefits increased substantially, and the new types of social payments were introduced, significantly expanding social protection coverage. Social spending continues to be a priority within public finance. In 2025, social-oriented expenditures account for more than 40% of the state budget. Tajikistan's state social assistance plays a key role in poverty reduction efforts. Through consistent and effective policies, Azerbaijan reduced its poverty rate from 20.8% in 2006 to 5.3% in 2024. The promotion of decent work and protection of labor rights remains integral to Azerbaijan's social economic agenda. Since 2018, Employment reforms have facilitated job placement for more than 836,000 individuals, expanded access to vocational training, and supported wage co-financing initiatives. In addition, the self-employment program has enabled over 113,000 families to establish sustainable income-generating activity. Digitalization has become a cornerstone of Azerbaijan's social policy. More than 90% of labor Employment and social protection services have been digitalized. Since 2019, social payments have been assigned proactively through integrated electronic system, improving accessibility, transparency, and efficiency. Ensuring social and public security remains essential to safeguarding human dignity and social rights. Within this framework, Azerbaijan consistently implementation of great return program, supporting the safe and dignified return of form internally displaced persons through reconstruction, employment creation, and sustainable development in liberated territories. Azerbaijan remains committed to strengthening international cooperation and sharing experience in advancing inclusive social protection system. So delegation of Azerbaijan wishes this meeting every success and look forward for productive discussions. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. And now I give the floor to the Vice Minister for the Department of Social Welfare and Development of the Philippines.

Thank you, Mr. Moderator. Madam Chair, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues, the care economy is the invisible backbone of our societies and labor markets. Yet care work, whether paid or unpaid, continues to be undervalued and underprotected. From the Philippine perspective, advancing the social dimension of the 2030 agenda requires comprehensive care and support systems at the center of development policy, not only as social protection measures, but as engines of decent work, gender equality, and poverty eradication. Comprehensive care and support systems unlock significant opportunities to decent work across the life course. When care services are recognized, professionalized, and adequately supported, they generate employment that is dignified, stable, and socially essential. In the Philippines, care-related work absorbs a large share of women's labor, both at home and overseas. Strengthening care systems, therefore, expands labor force participation while easing the unpaid care burden that continues to limit women's economic choices. Care investments function simultaneously as labor market policies, human capital investments, and gender-responsive interventions. The Philippine experience underscores the value of a whole-of-government approach that ensures care workers and care-dependent populations are visible to the state and able to access protections across institutions and life stages. Coordinated governance also reinforces the recognition of care workers not only as beneficiaries, but as contributors to nation development. Persistent gender inequalities within the care economy must also be addressed. Women continue to carry the bulk of unpaid care work and remain overrepresented in lower paid care occupations. Ensuring that caregiving does not permanently disrupt education, skills development or decent pathways is essential to sustaining inclusive growth. excellencies, we would like to hear insights on the participation of community-based organizations, cooperatives, and social enterprises, which are often closest to households and communities, particularly in geographically dispersed and vulnerable areas. Their engagement demonstrates how care can be delivered in ways that are participatory, culturally grounded, and anchored in shared responsibility. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I'm going to give the floor now to the representative of Qatar, followed by Chile and Cuba, and then we'll continue with the following participation. So please, really, given the time constraints, keep the interventions to a maximum of two minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Moderator. May the mercy and blessings of God be upon you, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to thank you for holding this important panel discussion addressing care as a way to promote dignity and eradicate poverty. We feel that these measures are a good investment because the structural systems that encompass the whole dimension of social development are important. And this is part and parcel of our national measures, particularly when it comes to the reduction of poverty for the sake of social justice. What's more, the third ministerial strategy attempts to improve the status of unpaid care work. This involves partnerships with civil society and guarantees good quality services as well as the dignity of those providing care and those that receive care. We need a strategy that encompasses all parts of government and this is an essential precondition for us to have sustainable approaches where no one is left behind, particularly when it comes to those groups that particularly need care and assistance. To conclude, we would like to share experience and cooperate for the sake of implementing the Doha Declaration so that we can have measures that are rooted in justice. Thank you.

Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Chile.

Mr. Moderator, Chile is grateful for this opportunity to consider a key subject for social development. We know today that poverty is deeply linked to access to good quality time, care and work. In many countries, including my own, there is an increasing overlap with the aging of the population and with the growing care crisis, which has a disproportionate impact on on women and on households containing persons with a situation of dependency. Faced with this reality, Chile has moved forward in building its national support and care system, Chile Cares. It provides services for people with functional dependencies and also support for those providing care, particularly women, in terms of healthcare, social protection, employment and life cycle support. experience confirms something essential, which is that investing in care is not a social expenditure, it is a strategic investment. It generates decent work, it strengthens social protection and improves the incomes of households and makes the economy more dynamic. But above all, it makes it possible to recognize care as a public good and a right, promoting a social organization based on shared responsibility between the state, families, the market and the community. This national experience is in direct dialogue with the multilateral work that we are advancing. Recently, Chile had the honor of presenting a resolution on the care economy for sustainable development, supported by an interregional group of countries. That step recognizes growing recognition that care not only sustains life, it also sustains our economies, and its contribution should be made more visible and incorporated into public policy making. The Doha Declaration and this Commission reminds us that social development requires political coherence, appropriate financing, and sustainable political commitments. Chile reaffirms its conviction Only with solid care systems can we build more just, resilient and dignified societies for all. Thank you very much.

Thank you. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Cuba.

Mr. Moderator, distinguished panelists, my delegation thanks the panelists for their presentations. Eradicating poverty and guaranteeing dignity through resilient care and support systems is something that is essential for us to achieve inclusive social development and the social justice that this Commission has been promoting since it was created. Cuba is fully committed to building a robust, universal, care system that is centred on human dignity. This commitment is nothing new. It is part of the humanist vocation of our social project, and it takes the form of public policies that have been maintained over decades, including under extremely adverse economic circumstances. In recent years, Cuba has taken determined steps to strengthen this approach. The Constitution of the Republic, in its Article 13, establishes as an essential purpose of the State the guaranteeing of full dignity to persons and their comprehensive development. And based on that mandate, in 2022, the Family Code was approved that explicitly recognizes shared responsibility between the State, society, and families in the provision of care and reasonable accommodations for older persons, persons with disabilities, and other groups in a situation of vulnerability. More recently, in October 2024, the Council of Ministers approved Decree No. 109, which establishes the National Comprehensive Life Care System, formalizing care as a human right and coordinating intersectoral policies to guarantee care, protection, education, and guidance to those that need it, as well as dignified conditions for those providing care. This system constitutes an example of cross-cutting progress for addressing the aging of the population, reducing inequalities, and guaranteeing gender equality. However, our national efforts are seriously hindered by the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States against our country. which has been stepped up like never before in recent years, with the explicit aim of deepening the energy suffocation of the island. These unilateral measures, contrary to international law, aim to punish an entire people and limit their right to development. Despite this outlook, Cuba will continue to defend the right of all persons to a dignified life, to equal opportunities, and to getting the care that they need at every stage of their lives. We reaffirm our readiness to continue cooperating with Member States, with the United Nations system, and with all actors that are committed to inclusive social development. In that regard, we would like to ask the panelists what additional efforts could the international community make to contribute to the efforts of countries to achieve comprehensive life care systems that are good quality and accessible for all. Thank you.

Thank you very much for your statement.

Going to give the floor in this order to the following representatives: Mexico, India, Switzerland, and the European Union. So, adelante, distinguido.

I'd like to give the floor to the distinguished representative of Mexico.

Muchas gracias.

Thank you very much. All persons need care throughout the life cycle. However, historically, this has been disproportionately taken on by women. very often in informal conditions and with a lack of recognition. When care is not organized collectively and with shared responsibility, its effects mean that there is less access for women to formal work and persistent gaps and inequalities. Therefore, comprehensive care systems open up concrete opportunities for decent work, formal employment and professionalized work within the care sector, with labor rights and social security, and at the same time, they free up time for those that are providing unpaid care work so that they can access employment, education, or community participation on more equitable conditions. In this context, Mexico is advancing a national and progressive care system with a systemic and gradual approach that allows us to address, among the three levels of government, the differentiated needs of the population throughout the life cycle. At the regional level, the 16th Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in 2025 in Mexico City, was a milestone for the adoption of the Flaten Local Commitment, which for the first time recognized care as a human right and established clear obligations for the state, as well as shared responsibility with society for making progress on the construction of care systems. None of this is possible without sufficient and sustained financing. In Mexico, for the first time, a budgetary line has been created specifically for care that allows us to identify resources, measure impacts, and reorient public spending. Moving towards care societies is not just a question of social justice and gender equality. It is also a smart economic strategy to build more inclusive and resilient labor markets. Mexico will continue to advance this agenda. We are convinced that without care, we can have no decent work, and without decent work, we can have no sustainable development. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, representative of Mexico.

The distinguished representative of India.

Honorable chair, excellencies, distinguished delegates, and panelists. Building resilient care system means creating structures that protect dignity, ensure inclusion and empower all citizens. In the context of India, National Social Assistance Program, Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Suraksha Bima Yojana, Shram Yogi Mahan, Dhan Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana have ensured the health and accidental insurance and old age pension and assistance for millions of citizens. 706 senior citizen homes Mobile medical units, physiotherapy clinics, and physical aids under Atal Bihari Vajpayee Abhyuday Yojana strengthen support for senior citizens. Expanded healthcare coverage under Ayushman Bharat now ensures free treatment for all aged 70 years and above. 865 one-stop centers, 412 Shakti Sadans, about 15,000 women help desks in police stations, and 827 anti-human trafficking units create safe and enabling environments for women in distress, including survivors of trafficking. Residents receive shelter, food, clothing, primary health facilities, and other essential items, showing a continuum of care that restores dignity and safety. The Scheme for Economic Empowerment of Denotified, Nomadic, and Semi-Nomadic Tribes facilitates their holistic development through self-help groups, educational coaching, access to health services, and housing. So far, nearly 3,500 self-help groups with approximately 50,000 members have been formed, enabling historically marginalized communities to achieve economic resilience. PM DAksh empowers youth and adults from marginalized communities, including waste pickers and persons with disabilities, through skill development and vocational training, connecting them to jobs and self-employment opportunities. As already highlighted in the earlier interventions, Ayushman Bharat remains an impressive achievement. As the world's largest publicly funded health insurance scheme, it provides comprehensive medical care coverage to nearly 550 million individuals with special focus on socially and economically disadvantaged populations, reinforcing equitable access to healthcare as a cornerstone of social development. These initiatives illustrate India's whole of life, whole of life cycle, whole of society approach, linking protection, care, livelihood, and skill development. By centering policies on dignity, safety, and empowerment, India is building care systems that are equitable, sustainable, and resilient, ensuring no one is left behind. So I had one question to Ms. Shelley and Edwards from Jamaica, are there separate care and support systems for children in conflict with law? Thank you.

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Switzerland.

Mr. Moderator, I have the honor to speak here today as the Swiss youth delegate to the United Nations. I would like to highlight an aspect of poverty that is often forgotten or overlooked, but which nevertheless affects around 500 million people every month. I'm referring here to those affected by period poverty, which refers to insufficient access to menstrual hygiene products and education on this subject. It's estimated that around 2 billion people worldwide menstruate. However, millions of them cannot afford to buy menstrual products or do not have access to clean water and adequate sanitation facilities to manage their menstrual health in good conditions. Although it is still highly stigmatized, menstruation is a natural process experienced by a quarter of the world's population. However, this topic remains taboo in many societies and in certain cultural or social contexts. Some people who menstruate, especially girls, may be marginalized, prevented from participating in social life, or limited in their activities. This can lead to absenteeism from school, widening the gender gap in education. In addition, education about the menstrual cycle remains rare in many contexts. According to UNICEF, only a large minority of girls are informed about menstruation before their first cycle. Imagine the fear of an 11-year-old girl who bleeds for the first time and does not know why. Menstrual insecurity is no longer considered a hygiene issue, but a structural health issue. It's time to take action and recognize the humiliation suffered by people who menstruate without access to appropriate products and conditions. And I'd like to conclude with two examples. of action in my country. Since 2020, it has been common practice in Switzerland to distribute free menstrual products in schools and official institutions. And secondly, there is the reclassification of menstrual products from luxury items to essential items for tax purposes. And this has been a major step forward in making them more accessible, especially for low income households. These examples show that together we can break the taboo surrounding menstruation and put an end to period poverty. Education, the distribution of menstrual product kits and the destigmatization of this topic should serve as the basis for a change in mindset that is also needed in national policies. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the European Union.

Thank you, Honourable Chair.

As, uh, many of the distinguished panelists mentioned, um, globally, unpaid care and domestic work predominantly carried by women and girls remain an, uh, essential yet overlooked economic activity. Unpaid care work, meanwhile, continues to be often undervalued and subject to high job strain and difficult working conditions. These gaps contribute to the feminization of poverty, unequal access to decent work and social protection, as well as unequal pay for work of equal value. To address these challenges, the European Pillar of Social Rights affirmed the right to healthy, safe and well-adapted work environment and addresses the need for work-life balance to ensure that both women and men with caring responsibilities have equal access to suitable leave, flexible working arrangements, care-related social protection, adequate pensions and access to care services. At the multilateral level, we welcome the recent positive development of adoption of the resolution of the contribution of the care economy to sustainable development and are looking forward to the related report of the Secretary.

General that will complement the currently ongoing work within the United Nations to recognize the care economy as a macroeconomic driver of inclusive and sustainable growth.

I would like to ask the panelists.

How we can address the feminization of poverty through resilient care and support systems. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I'm going now to give the floor to the panelists, but really due to time constraints, just one minute-ish, please. So first of all, Ms. Lee.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Moderator. I listened carefully and attentively to the remarks and observations made by the distinguished delegates, and I would like to give my short feedback. Actually, I think why there are some social issues are not addressed, the reason actually is very simple. According to our research, the reason is that the policies are not pro-poor, as we all know, few country, they have achieved a rapid economic development while reducing poverty at the same time. And the second reason is that the urbanization goes faster than industrialization. So there are a lot of homeless and internal displaced persons. And third reason is that the policies are not consistent. due to the election, the cycles of election, there's a new administration stepping into the office and they abolish the old ones, no matter if it's good or bad. So I think all the care and support system must be consistent and we must be patient to wait for the good outcomes to be realized. Thank you, Mr. Moderator.

Thank you very much. Now I give the floor to Ms. Edwards.

Okay, thank you. I will first address the question that was raised by the delegate from India. Are there separate care for children in conflict with the law? I want to note that the rights of our children are recognized in keeping with the Child Care and Protection Act and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Office of the Children's Advocate and the Child Protection and Family Services Agency are some of the entities that ensure that the support is provided to children in conflict with the law as well as their families. A question was raised I believe by Cuba with regards to what additional efforts can the international community employ to ensure comprehensive care and support. And it is important that care and support is aligned with development. And it must be underscored that there are social and economic gains for comprehensive care systems that are multi-sectoral and recognized. And this may require cultural shifts in how care systems are viewed. It is very important that care takes into consideration quality and that policy coherence is obtained. There is need for a policy framework to be in place to guide the many different linkages and pieces that ensure quality care. Empowerment is absolutely necessary, both for care recipients and caregivers. It is important for those who provide care, including women and the broader families to have access to various support systems and for children, elderly, and as the population ages, that all the opportunities that are provided are embraced to ensure effective care and greater development in our countries. Thank you.

Thank you, Thank you very much. Now I give the floor to Chair Mrs. Chibutsi.

Thank you so much for the presentations from the members. And I'm going to just give one of the call for actions that the grassroots caregivers gave in the Global Caregiver Summit in Mexico, which is provide access to productive capital including land, credit, technology, internet, and equipment, and invest in training, capacity building, and other livelihood strengthening initiatives that produce equitable opportunities to access better markets, value chains, and advance our economic independence for the caregivers. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I now finally give the floor to Ms. Whitehead.

Yes, thank you. I very, very much welcome the remarks from our many colleagues here in the room and the many countries that have spoken. And thinking across all of the interventions that have been raised, it's very clear in this room, and I hope to those who are not with us today as well, that care is not only a household issue, it's not only a family issue, it's not only a women's issue, And it's not only a social issue. Care and access to care is a whole of society issue. It is a poverty issue, and it is an economic issue, and therefore requires such responses as befitting. that means that it requires a multi-sectoral whole of government approach that brings together social protection as a foundation, as an anchor, but also connects to health, to labor, especially education, transport, etc. Especially when we're considering the needs of persons with disabilities as well. To create a comprehensive system that really is striving towards social development, which is what brings us here today, we must recognize care is a missing element that is not often included in discussions when we are looking outside of the social dimensions of social development. We need to integrate care very clearly as an economic consideration so that the appropriate investments, the appropriate policies are made that do not continue the gender imbalance that we see currently in the provision of care and that do not continue the lack of representation for caregivers that we continue to see and that do not continue the lack of financing to support these systems to strengthen these systems for longer poverty reduction and sustainable development.

Thank you very much. I think we have heard, you know, four very interesting presentations as well as a wide wave participation from the member states. Let me say that I think the issue of the need for comprehensive care systems has been very clear in the presentations. Governments, civil society, family, and as the representative Eunice have pointed out in her presentation, the private sector. Also, as a member. And I think the connection with employment, which has been emphasized by many participants, I think is very important, and perhaps let me end up with a very specific issue, which is the growing issue of aging and the importance of what is provided for people who are aging, including employment. which is a topic that I think is not quite mainstream into many of the other policies. But with this, I think I close this panel and I ask the members of this panel to leave the podium and ask the new panelists to come back to the podium. Thank you very much.

I thank Mr. Campo for guiding our discussion, and I would also like to thank the distinguished panelists from China, Jamaica, and Kenya, and UNICEF, as well as delegations who participated and contributed. We have reached the end of the panel discussion on eradicating poverty and promoting decent work through comprehensive care and support systems. We will now have a brief pause to allow the podium to be rearranged for the next interactive dialogue. Please remain seated. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the panel discussion on comprehensive care systems as enablers of gender equality, social inclusion, and dignity. And I am pleased to welcome the distinguished panelists of our discussion. Her Excellency Margaret Sarofim Youssef, Deputy Minister of Social Solidarity of Egypt. Ms. Hande Sahin, Family and Social Services Specialist at the Ministry of Family and Social Services of Turkey. Ms. Farah Arabi, United Nations Representative and Member of the Board of Directors of Make Mothers Matter. And Ms. Maria Isabel Cobos, Chief of the Social and Gender Statistics Section at the Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. And I'm also pleased to welcome again the moderator, Mr. Jose Antonio Ocampo, Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. I wish to remind the panelists to please keep within their allocated time limit of seven minutes per presentation and delegations to keep within three minutes or less during the interactive discussion. I thank the participants for this understanding, and I now give the floor to Mr. Ocampo.

Thank you, Madam Chair. As you already said, the second panel will focus on the contributions of care and support systems to more inclusive societies. The panelists will discuss how care and support systems lead to better development outcomes for children, and how they allow persons with disabilities to participate more fully in society, access employment, culture, and services, and support older people to continue living in their communities with dignity. This segment will also investigate how care and support systems can have a transformative impact on families and gender dynamics. The majority of unpaid care work is done by women. They shoulder the burden of unvalued and invisible work with consequences to their participation in the labor market and in social life. We will learn about the way statistics and data can be useful to make this work visible, and how can comprehensive care and support systems can contribute to women's empowerment and greater gender equality. The panelists will explore the ways in which care and support systems enable greater access to rights and services. how they contribute to combating discrimination and promoting gender equality, and therefore how they can contribute to truly inclusive social development. The panelists will discuss questions such as how can care and support systems promote gender equality and tackle the undervaluing of care work? What types of care enable best development outcomes for children? What are the best practices to protect the human rights and dignity of persons with disabilities and older people as support recipients? How can governments ensure that care and support systems are inclusive of people living in poverty or in rural areas? And how can data support government in establishing and improving care and support systems? Again, I kindly ask the panelists to limit their presentations to seven minutes. And as a follow-up, I will ask each one of you a particular question. So I will start by inviting Ms. Marguerite Saropim Youssef, Deputy Minister of Social Solidarity of the Arab Republic of Egypt to give her remarks.

Thank you. Excellencies, esteemed partners, today we are here to discuss a fundamental shift in how we approach global development, the realization that we cannot eradicate poverty or promote decent work without addressing the invisible engine of our global economy, the care and support system. We cannot only define poverty solely as a lack of income. Poverty is also lack of choice, lack of security, and ultimately a loss of hope and dignity. When we speak about eradicating poverty, we are not only talking about increasing income, but about building support systems that enable people to make their own choices, live in safety, and uphold their dignity. Poverty ends when opportunities are available, security is ensured, and dignity is protected. Today, poverty is better understood as a multidimensional condition, one that intersects with vulnerability, care responsibilities, in addition to income, consumption, and access to basic services. At the heart of the poverty trap lies a care gap. Millions of individuals globally, primarily women, are locked out of the formal labor market because they are providing unpaid care for children, the elderly, or family members with disabilities. This brings us to a critical shift in thinking. Care must no longer be treated as a private burden or a sidelined social concern. It must be recognized as a public good and cornerstone of resilient development. Resilient care support systems are not limited to social assistance alone. They encompass available, affordable, with high quality, child care, elder care, disability services, health systems, mental health support, and social protection mechanisms that are adaptive, inclusive, and shock responsive. These systems, when designed effectively, they enhance and reinforce the capabilities of participation productivity, and social cohesion. Egypt's experience showed that comprehensive care and support system are central tools for poverty eradication and decent work, not residual social policies. Ladies and gentlemen, Egypt's care and support system are designed to promote inclusion, dignity, and equality across the life cycle. Women represent 75% of Takaful and Karama beneficiaries, strengthening their economic agency and reducing unpaid care burdens through access to income, health, education, and the child care related services. In Egypt, there is a novel legislative package to care beneficiaries, such as a law to govern elderly care, persons with disabilities, care and amendments to child law that governs the care of children deprived of family law. Inclusive care policies also prioritize persons with disabilities through integrated disability service cards that ensure coordinated access to services with community-based care, accessibility, and respect for autonomy protect dignity. Elderly integrated health and social care system support independence and inclusion ensuring care is delivered with dignity, choice, and accountability. Children deprived of family care through deinstitutionalization and family-based alternatives, children achieve the best development outcomes in family-based and community-based care. Egypt's vision deinstitutionalization, moving away from large institutions toward family care and small home models that replicate a nurturing family environment. These approaches support emotional development, stability, and social inclusion, which are essential for children's long-term well-being. Care for children through early childhood development, nutrition, education access, and the first 1,000 days is treated as a long-term human capital investment, breaking intergenerational poverty. Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, a critical lesson learned. from Egypt's experience is that care system must reach people where poverty is most rooted, particularly in rural areas. The Decent Life Initiative ensures geographic inclusion by integrating care services and infrastructures for 58 million citizens across rural communities. This is complemented by the Rural and Environmental Industries Support Fund, RAIS, which serves as the economic inclusion arm of the care system. RAIS functions as an empowerment ladder, transforming Takaful and Karama beneficiaries into active economic actors and preventing new vulnerabilities through economic resilience. RAIS achieves this by localizing rural industries to create sustainable jobs within communities, empowering women, youth, and persons with disabilities through finance, training, and green industries, linking beneficiaries to the Manzuma National System for Economic Empowerment, expanding access to finance, and markets, supporting market access through exhibitions and digital platforms such as IAD, enabling income generation without displacement from care environments. Furthermore, a digital system was established for managing alternative care for children deprived of family care. Through this integration, Egypt ensures that care system don't stop at protection, but actively enable dignity, participation, and resilience for rural population and people living in poverty. Thank you.

Thank you very much. And let me ask you a question, which is, what makes a care system more effective? I think also based on the Egyptian experience.

Thank you. Egypt's experience demonstrates that comprehensive care systems are most effective when they are integrated, legally anchored, and linked to economic empowerment. And this is the main pathway for the effective comprehensive care from our side. Thank you.

So thank you very much. I now invite our next speaker, Ms. Hande Sahin, Family and Social Services Specialist for the Ministry of Family and Social Services of Turkey, to deliver her presentation.

Thank you very much, Mr. Moderator. I would like to say it's an honor to take part in this panel and exchange experience with such distinguished participants. Today, I will try to briefly explain why combining cash assistance with care services is essential for social inclusion and how this works in practice. Let me start by explaining why integration matters in social protection. Traditionally, you know, social protection focused on mainly income poverty. However, poverty is not only about money, it's also about time, care responsibilities, and access to services. Cash assistance is important, but cash alone is not enough to solve all problems of people in need. It works best when combined with care and support services that help families manage daily life more easily. For example, an older person may receive financial assistance, but without support for daily needs such as personal care, meal preparation, or household tasks, independence gradually decreases and families often face additional pressure. Cash helps cover expenses, but it doesn't always protect dignity or prevent isolation. Without care and social support, people may still feel excluded from community life. This is why integration matters. When cash assistance is combined with care services and employment support, social protection becomes more inclusive and transformative. Income support stabilizes households, while care services enable participation, especially for women who carry most unpaid care work. When care responsibilities are better shared through services, families gain more opportunities to work, study and participate in society. So, the key question becomes, how do we make this integration work in practice? Integration works through systems, not individual projects. The goal is one coordinated system that identifies care needs early and responds across the life course, instead of reacting only when problems become severe. This system is based on four elements. an integrated digital registry, early identification, a life course approach, and reducing unpaid care work. First is an integrated digital registry, links social assistance with care, health, education, and employment services. This allows institutions to see household situations more clearly and deliver support in a coordinated way instead of acting separately. The second, household visits and community services have to identify needs early before they become crisis and reduce application burden on families to go through complex application processes. The third one is a life course approach, aligning services from childcare to disability and elderly care, so people can receive support at different stages of their lives instead of only at moment of crisis. And the last one is reducing unpaid care work by providing services that free time for education, employment and participation, especially, of course, for women who often carry most care responsibilities. And this brings us to another important question. Who benefits from this integrated approach and how does it change people's lives? The groups that benefit most from the system are women, older persons, persons with disabilities and people in poverty or living in rural areas. Women benefit because reduced care burdens increase participation in employment and education, opening more economic and social opportunities. Older persons and persons with disabilities benefit because home-based supports help maintain independence and dignity. People living in poverty or rural areas benefit through local service delivery and early identification, ensuring support reaches them even when access to institutions is limited. And care workers also benefit as services become more professionalized, creating decent jobs and improving access to social protection. And to conclude, I would like to point out that care is not a cost for countries. It's an investment in dignity, inclusion, and the future of our societies. Thank you.

Well, thank you very much for your presentation. Let me actually ask you a follow-up question. I mean, given the importance that you give to coordination, or integration of social services, how can that work in practice? What tools and strategies are necessary?

Thank you for the question. Let me briefly explain how this coordination works in practice, drawing on Turkey's experience. In Turkey, we have learned that coordination cannot rely on projects or informal cooperation. It must be built into the system itself. One key tool is our integrated digital system, which brings together socio-economic information from different public institutions. This allows us to see household conditions more clearly and identify needs beyond income, such as care needs, disability or risk affecting children or older persons. The second important element is local implementation. Our local units across all provinces and districts work directly with households through regular home visits and real-time assessments. Families can therefore be connected not only to cash assistance, but also to care services, social services, education support, or employment programs when needed. In addition, through our national in-home care program, older persons and persons with disabilities who have difficulty accessing service receive support directly in their homes, while family support centers provide social and educational programs that strengthen women's participation and social inclusion at community level. Also, referral and cooperation mechanisms between institutions are straightened locally, so families don't have to navigate complex system alone, and institutions coordinate to provide appropriate support. Our main lesson is that coordination works best when digital systems, local service delivery, and institutional cooperation function together, turning social protection into a gateway to broader social inclusion rather than only income support. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for your presentation and your answer. And now I give the floor to Ms. Farah Al-Araby, UN representative, a member of the board of directors of Make Mothers Matter.

Thank you, Madam Chair, Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, Mr. Moderator. I'm going to start by warning you in advance that I will go over the seven minute allocation just because I'm representing 10 million mothers and you should always listen to your mother. Care is one of the most powerful and most underestimated forces shaping our societies. From the perspective of caregivers, especially mothers, and I am one myself, care is not an abstract sector or a residual policy issue. It is the daily work of sustaining human life, developing human capability, and transmitting dignity, resilience, values, and love from one generation to the next. Social development is at its core about people and foundational to people are mothers and all those who care. Yet, care systems remain chronically under-prioritized, not because evidence is lacking, but because our unpaid labor is taken for granted and because short-term political horizons too often prevail over long-term human and societal impact. If we are serious about inclusive social development, This undervaluing of care and of the political calculus must change. Today, I would like to underscore three core messages. First, caregiving is a foundational public good with profound economic, social, and intergenerational returns. Second, the current deficit is systemic, not individual, and disproportionately borne by women, especially mothers. Third, comprehensive care and support systems represent one of the most strategic, coherent and cost effective investments governments can make to advance gender equality, social inclusion, dignity and long term human flourishing. Let me begin with the scale and global significance of caregiving. Unpaid care and domestic work performed overwhelmingly by women is estimated to represent between 10 and 39% of GDP if valued at an hourly minimum wage. In many countries, it can surpass the economic contribution of manufacturing, commerce, or transportation. Yet it remains largely invisible in national accounts and persistently undervalued, even ignored in policy design. At the same time, the returns to investing in care are extraordinary. Closing care gaps, particularly in child care, could by 2035 generate up to 300 million additional jobs globally, raise global employment rates by six percentage points, reduce the gender employment gap by seven points, and yield nearly $4 in GDP for every $1 invested. Care is not a side policy of economic and social development. It is the system that makes development possible. But as any mother can tell you, the value of care cannot be captured by economic metrics alone. Caregiving is a comprehensive, multidimensional, and deeply relational function, carried out daily, most often by women, within families and communities. Caregivers care for the whole person, integrating physical, cognitive, emotional, and social dimensions. Mothers, in this sense, are not only economic, educational, and physical labor actors. They are the emotional and relational infrastructure of our societies. What happens within caregiving relationships shapes life trajectories. Decades of evidence show that stable and responsive caregiving relationships during a child's early years drive healthy brain and biological systems development, protect against the traumatic effects of adversity, and promote lifelong physical, mental, and relational health. Conversely, adverse childhood experiences, often compounded by caregiver stress, poverty, conflict, and lack of support, are associated with lower educational attainment, reduced productivity, higher health and social costs, and increased risks of violence and social fragmentation. This is why care must be understood as foundational work, not crisis management. Too often, public systems are designed to put out fires, responding once harm has already occurred, rather than to invest in the relationships and caregiving conditions that prevent harm in the first place. Early relationships are an engine of sustainable development. They are sustainable across generations, scalable through reproduction, hyper-localized in impact, cost effective through prevention, and central to dignity in how we relate to one another. If we aspire not only to human development, but to human flourishing, care must sit at the center of our social development strategies. Yet caregivers do not operate in isolation. And here's where I transition to point number two. The challenges we face are deeply systemic and structural. Gender norms continue to allocate the majority of unpaid care to women. Globally, women perform on average two to two and a half times more unpaid care and domestic work than men. These norms are reproduced across generations unless deliberately interrupted, reinforcing inequality in households, workplaces, and public life alike. Supporting caregiving and ensuring it is more equitably shared is therefore essential to breaking intergenerational cycles of inequality. Workplace systems frequently treat caregiving supports, such as paid parental leave, flexible work arrangements, and return to work pathways as discretionary benefits, rather than as pillars of economic resilience and social sustainability. This gap is even more pronounced for the 60% of workers that constitute the global informal economy, who remain largely excluded from formal labor and contributory social protections. Care also remains undervalued and undermeasured. While rarely measured, when measured, the economic value of care is calculated at minimum wage levels, hiding real opportunity costs for mothers and other unpaid caregivers. Despite encouraging momentum, there is still no internationally agreed statistical definition of care work, limiting visibility, comparability, and accountability. This invisibility and underevaluation perpetuate underinvestment, despite care being indispensable to economic and social functioning. And the consequences are predictable. Maternal mental health strain is widespread and persistent. A pioneering study conducted by Make Mothers Matter on the state of motherhood in Europe found that more than 67% of mothers say they feel mentally overloaded, and half report experiencing mental health struggles, such as anxiety, depression, or burnout. Crucially, maternal mental health is also one of the strongest predictors of child's mental health, socio-emotional development, and lifelong outcomes. Time poverty, invisible labor, and economic insecurity constrain women's agency and choice, limit career continuity, compromise financial independence, and reduce lifetime earnings, savings, and pensions accumulation. When care systems fail, societies pay the price through lower productivity, declining fertility, widening inequalities, higher health expenditures, and weakened social cohesion. If social development is about people, then mothers are its foundation, and care systems are how we protect that foundation. So what must change? And here I go to point number three. From the perspective of caregivers and parents, we need to shift from fragmented short-term interventions to comprehensive cross-sectoral coordinated care systems embedded across the life course. This requires policy coherence across our global commitments. There is a clear through line from Copenhagen to Doha and onward to Agenda 2030. Care and support systems are the connective tissue that can align poverty eradication, decent work, gender equality, health, education, and social inclusion into one integrated development agenda. At the national and local levels, this means investing not only in basic infrastructure and services like water, energy, and health care that are critical to unpaid caregivers, but also in family-friendly policies that treat care, time and intra-family relationships also as essential social infrastructure. For example, inclusive and adequately paid parental leave for all caregivers, accessible quality childcare, parenting education, family and mental health support, and flexible work arrangements that do not penalize care and caregivers. It also means scaling universal preventive parenting and caregiver support programs with targeted pathways for families facing specific challenges, in particular, single parent families. Community-based models, including those within the social and solidarity economy, can deliver culturally responsive, people-centered care while creating decent work and strengthening social ties. Above all, this requires political will that extends beyond electoral cycles. a willingness to prioritize long-term human outcomes over short-term metrics. We cannot build long-term social progress with short-term political vision. Care, both in practice and in policy, demands coherence and courage across generations. Excellencies, in closing, care is where policy meets humanity. When we invest in care, we're not only supporting caregivers. We are shaping who children become, how societies treat vulnerability, and what future generations inherit. When we fail to invest, the costs do not disappear. They accumulate quietly, unevenly, and across generations. We must move beyond short term siloed fixes and instead build a comprehensive, coordinated caregiving foundations that allow human potential to unfold fully, equally, and with dignity from one generation to the next. Thank you.

Well, thank you very much for your, I guess, emphasis of care as foundational policies. And let me actually ask you the question of how can civil society organizations such as yours work in partnership with governments and the private sector to establish and improve the comprehensive care systems?

We can certainly make a key contribution throughout the entire process of policy program design and implementation. First of all, we can help analyze the problem and derive solutions, right? We can help capture lived experience, distill aggregate patterns, pilot initiatives, help measure the current state and the desired future state of caregiving infrastructure compared to peer countries and systems around the world. Basically, we can be your consultants. Second, we can also help implement. We are much closer to communities and understand their lived experiences and realities. And third, we can be your voice of conscience, like your mother. We can keep policy grounded in human experience and long-term and intergenerational outcomes, so we can keep outcomes optimized for human flourishing and not political cycles.

Okay, thank you very much. And now I give the floor to Maria Isabel Cobos, the Chief of Social and Gender Section Statistics in the Statistical Division of UN DESA.

Thank you, Mr. Moderator. Thank you, Madam Chair, and good day, everyone. On behalf of the United Nations Statistics Division, let me express our enthusiasm for being here and taking part of this dialogue. As part of the presentation, I've been asked to share how time use statistics can shed light on the dynamics of unpaid care work and also share some data on the unequal distribution of unpaid care work and how this imbalance impacts gender equality. So first, let me start by saying that today we are focusing on on time use data, but care data really lives in the whole statistical system and there are a myriad of data sources where we can draw data that can inform the different aspects of care and care work. Today we focus on time use data and this really emphasizes importance of having integrated statistical systems that better support the formulation of working policies, particularly on a topic of care. Let me stress the importance of time use data to provide comprehensive insights into how individuals allocate their time across various activities during their day. This provides an understanding of the living conditions and well-being of population and population subgroups. We can argue, indeed, that unlike economic measures, which can fluctuate based on currency values or economic conditions, time is a universal constant, and every person has 24 hours in a day. This universality makes time use data useful for cross-national demographic comparisons, offering a clear view of wellbeing beyond economic indicators. Time use data allows the analysis of the types of activities that people perform, including care. and shows differences in the use of time between different segments of the population and their social and economic contribution. Over time, successive rounds of time use data can be utilized as well to monitor policy changes. That's why time use data support a wide range of policy policies and is key to follow up on most of the development goals. For example, SDG 5, On gender equality, it highlights disparities in unpaid domestic and care work. In SDG 8, on decent work, it measures both paid and unpaid work and their interactions. On SDG 3, good health and well-being, it helps with analysis of behaviors linked to health outcomes. With SDG 1, on poverty, it helps in uncovering time poverty, which often limits income generating and educational opportunities. One of the most significant contributions of time use data is our ability to measure unpaid domestic and care work, which is an essential but often invisible contribution, as it has been already mentioned a few times, of people, particularly women, to society and the economy, which is not captured in conventional economic measurements like the gross domestic product or GDP. SDG 5.4.1, which is the proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, really highlights the pivotal role of care and care work in fostering well-being and achieving gender equality. On average, 2.5, and this is a number to retain today, on average, 2.5 times is the amount of time that women devote in excess of men to tasks of unpaid domestic and care work. In fact, the statistical community in the ninth global forum on gender statistics, which was held in South Africa in 2023, devoted its main theme to the role of care, recalling that most of care work worldwide is unpaid and done by women and girls, perpetuating economic inequality between women and men. There was a call for a broad and comprehensive statistical approach to conceive care and the care economy that includes data on care demands, provision, quality, and infrastructure. Care was recognized as an overarching policy concern that touches upon the three pillars of development, but not only on labor market issue, but explicitly interrelated to gender, economic, human rights, education, health, migration, and even disasters. I don't intend to go through each and every graph here. What I want is to leave you with a panorama of how trends in unpaid work are clearly showing that there are certain population groups being left behind, be it population in rural areas, older people, population with low levels of income, indigenous peoples, people with African descent, persons with disabilities, and whatever way you want to slice the data, is women the most being left behind. Time use data can change the way that we measure prosperity and progress, and provide innovative ways to assess public policy. The work that gets measured in the system of national accounts is only but the tip of the iceberg. And when unpaid work is measured and valued in economic terms, the results are quite eye-opening. In many countries, the percent of GDP of unpaid work comes as the top one or top two contributor. For example, I bring two cases. In Kenya, the contribution of GDP of unpaid work is only second to agriculture, which is the main economic sector. In Mexico, the value of unpaid work is number one contributor, 24%, above the manufacturing sector. And that is the case in many other countries with different levels of economic development. Results vary across countries, also depending on the methodology that is used. But we observe that in general, the value of unpaid work ranges from 20% to 50%. In any case, with such significant share of the total GDP, unpaid household service work deserves much more attention from policymakers. An important part of these services could be provided through the labor market, by the private sector, by the social and solidarity economy, and by the public sector. The care economy can indeed become a vibrant sector of the economy. generating economic growth, more and better employment, social well-being and gender equality. I'll leave you with that message and thank you very much for your attention and for the opportunity to be part of this dialogue. Thank you, Chair.

Well, thank you very much. That was an interesting presentation, actually, showing the very good work that the Statistical Division of UN DESA does, which I know from my experience actually as USG for this. But let me actually ask a particular question. I mean, how can UNDES support member states and how does it support member states in this effort to prove these data issues on the care economy?

Thank you, Mr. Ocampo, for that question. Yes, we know that disaggregated and timely data require a strong statistical foundation, which means common standards and sustained capacity. So UN DESA, through the Statistics Division, supports member states across all these areas. First, we develop and promote international standards and guidance. In the case of time use statistics, we have the International Classification for Time Use. statistics, the minimum harmonized instrument for time use survey, which is a tool that can be used either as a module or as a standalone tool for countries that wish to collect data on time use. And they recently launched only a year ago, the UN guide to producing statistics on time use. And together, these tools provide a practical and flexible framework that countries can adapt to their own context and ensuring international comparability. We also work by strengthening national statistical systems. UNSD supports the exchange of country experiences, as I mentioned, for example, the Global Forum on UN Statistics. We also support peer learning through study visits, technical workshops and expert group collaboration. Third, we also raise awareness of the policy value of disaggregated data. UN Data connects statisticians, policymakers, funding partners and data users, highlighting how time use and other social statistics can inform priorities such as gender equality on paid care and domestic work, wellbeing and inclusive development. This helps mobilize resources and encourages the systematic use of data in decision making.

Okay, thank you very much. And I now invite the delegates to make presentations or short presentations or questions to the panelists. I see here the Deputy Minister of the Family, Labor and Social Policy of Poland, which wants to make a presentation.

Madam Chair, distinguished moderator and distinguished panelists, appropriate organization of care service is one of the key challenge that we face in 21st century across all countries. It is not an issue as itself, but a problem of labor market affecting the possibilities of increasing the participation in it and the problem of gender equality because caregiving is more often a burden that women decide to take. We face challenges concerning care for children in the age up to three, older persons and persons with disabilities. In Poland, we try to address all these challenges by new, adequate to current social and economic situation measures. The first, what I would like to say is that we introduced in Poland a programme Active Parent is focused on supporting parents of children in the age up to three by providing additional granted without the income threshold benefits to cover costs of care, especially to pay a fee for the nursery. The second is the fact that we introduced a program, Active Toddler, to create and maintain new nurseries, especially in small towns and villages where this kind of service haven't been accessible so far. The third is the fact that we are going to introduce the personal assistance service dedicated for persons with disabilities who need support in day-to-day life. This kind of service will be financed by state budget and enable persons with disabilities to conduct independent life. And fourth, we are going to introduce a senior voucher, a special benefit that will enable members of families responsible for care for older people financing the care service and combining the care duties with economic activity on labor market. Though these are only some examples of Poland's actions, but I have a question in the context of our actions and what was presented during the panel. How should look the balance between financial benefits and public service in the area of care? Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you for your second intervention today. Now I give the floor to the representative of Children and Youth International.

Thank you, Mr. Moderator, for the floor. Good afternoon, Excellencies and distinguished panelists. My name is Khushi Gore, and I take the floor on behalf of Children and Youth International. Care and support systems stand as a critical as a critical pillar for children and youth living in poverty. Today, these systems are accessible in some countries, but often lacking, under-resourced, and under-supported in the parts of the world where they are needed most. Equally, the burden of unpaid care work, domestic work, and support often falls disproportionately on women and girls, their work going unrecognized, their access to education, work, and empowerment compromised. It is critical that countries adopt enabling laws, policies, and services on care and support systems underpinned by human rights to create an inclusive and person-centered economy that works for all. Furthermore, these care and support systems must be resilient, sustainable, and supported so that these do not fail when international challenges such as pandemics, wars, or financial crises occur. From a youth perspective, we emphasize these key points. First, we need to take an intersectional and life course approach to care and support. When it comes to people with disabilities, adolescents suffering from mental health issues, single parents, recently unemployed individuals, the elderly, and orphan children, their needs cannot be divided and singled out. We need to develop resilience via integrated care and support systems rather than fragmented ones. And we need to work in partnership with communities to shape systems that actually work for those who need it. Second, care and support systems must uphold the agency and autonomy of children and young people. This includes ensuring alignment with the Convention on the Rights of the Children and ensuring every young person has access to right-based support, including the ability to access care in the community rather than defaulting to institutionalization. Equally, Health and education are critical parts of the care and support system, including services that ensure access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services, mental health services, and inclusive education for all. Finally, children and youth must be acknowledged as partners, not just passive beneficiaries for care and support. This includes youth having formal decision-making roles, resourced participation, youth participation across the full policy cycle, including design through to implementation and accountability. Perhaps most importantly, this is approach to partnership. This approach to partnership must include and prioritize the voices of children and youth who themselves are recipients of care, whose agency must be respected, including the right to shape the care and support systems they need. We want to ask the panelists these two questions. One, how can we ensure a future, a stronger foundation for current care and support systems so that in the future, global crises such as pandemics, wars, and economic downturns do not lead to their collapse? What kind of statistic investments help build a future that is secure for all? And second, what strategies can ensure that children and young people shift from beneficiaries to architects of more inclusive care and support systems? Thank you.

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to the representative of Algeria.

I would like to share with you briefly Algeria's experience in the field of poverty reduction and the health care programs and their impact on social development. Regarding the fight against poverty, Algeria has adopted a comprehensive approach based on solidarity and direct social support, increasing wages, including the national minimum wage, creating an unemployment benefit, and granting tax exemption on low incomes, as well as supporting rural and agricultural development to ensure food security. In this context, I would like to, uh, cite the 2025 economic report on Africa, published on the occasion of the 57th session of the Conference of Minister of the Economic Commission of, uh, for Africa. body, UN body, which states that Algeria has less than 1% of its population living in poverty out of total population of 46 million, which is reasonable figure. My country does not intend to stop at this level in its fight against poverty. Through its 2015-2030 industrial policy aimed at achieving the sustainable development goals and its economic program, it reasonably aspires to increase incomes, combat employment, and eliminate marginalized area, which generally constitute pockets of poverty. In the field of health, including healthcare programs, it's going without saying that health is an important driver of social development. Algeria has implemented a health policy based on free healthcare and universal access to health services without discrimination. Through these measures, life expectancy at birth has exceeded 79 years, and the basic childhood vaccination rate has reached over 99%. 2025 marked the beginning of a new era in the development of its healthcare systems, driven by the digitalization of services, the emergence of a startup ecosystem, the progressive integration of artificial intelligence. The transformation of the healthcare system is now guided by a logic of consolidation and skills development. I thank you.

Thank you very much. Now I give the floor to the representative of Malawi.

Good afternoon, Chair. Excellencies, distinguished guests, delegates. Malawi welcomes this very important dialogue this afternoon on eradication of poverty through resilience care and support systems. For us in Malawi, poverty is not only about income, but about vulnerability, dignity, and the ability of households to withstand shocks. Over half of Malawians live below the national poverty line, with nearly 60% experiencing multidimensional poverty. These vulnerabilities are intensified by frequent climate-related shocks that continue to reverse developmental gains. Care responsibilities fall disproportionately on women and girls, as we have observed in most societies present here. mostly operate in informal economy and remain outside the contributory social protection systems. This limits Malawi's economic participation and enforces the vicious cycle of poverty. In response, Malawi has prioritized care and support systems as a core pillar in social protection. Through the social cash transfer program, over 1.7 million people in the trap poor group, labor constrained households are supported, improving food security, school attendance, access to health services, and restoring dignity. These efforts are complemented by labor intensive public works that provide income to support and build community assets. Our experience during the COVID-19 pandemic and climate shocks has shown that strong systems matter. I believe most of us will agree with this observation from Malawi, where social registries, payment systems, and coordination mechanisms exist. Responses are faster and more transparent, and more dignified. Malawi is therefore strengthening linkages between cash support, basic services, and community-based care systems. We are also investing in preventive care, school feeding programs, which now reach over 3 million children and contributing to better nutrition and human capital development. We are also reviewing and enhancing our ECD policy and provision of alternative childcare strategies. A key lesson from Malawi to the world is that care systems must be shock responsive and linked to early warning and emergency response mechanisms. Another lesson is that investment in care enables economic participation, allowing women to work children to thrive, and households to become more resilient. For Malawi, eradicating poverty is inseparable from building resilient care and support systems that protect dignity across the life course. Chair, distinguished delegates, thank you for your attention.

Thank you very much. I'll now give the floor to

the representative of Panama.

Chair, distinguished delegates, I bring greetings from the Republic of Panama. We hold the fundamental conviction that the eradication of poverty is not just a statistical goal. Rather, it means the reestablishment of human dignity as the key focus of the social contract. In a global environment marked by uncertainty and persisting asymmetries, we are facing what Panama has termed the paradox of success. Despite economic growth, we are still working to dismantle the structural causes of inequality. For nations such as ours, where 15% of the population still faces multidimensional poverty despite the economic dynamism and an active market, the challenge is not just growth, but rather redistribution of resilience. And so the question that brings us here is not just what do we want to achieve, but what tools do we have to guarantee that no one at any stage of their lives gets left behind. And we have seen that in care systems and resilient support systems. It is possible to transform social spending into a strategic investment in human capital. Our roadmap is based on evidence and concrete tools, protection of the life cycle, the We don't have just basic transfers, but comprehensive support. In 2024, we were able to reach more than 120,000 beneficiaries, guaranteeing standards of quality of care through rigorous technical standards, investing in human capital and in early childhood, expanding early primary care. This is the basis for social development and to this we add the multidimensional poverty index for children, boys, girls and adolescents. And this provides us a scientific basis to carry out specific interventions in the areas of health, education and protection, territorial and rural empowerment through networks of women and rural women and rural youth. We are also decentralizing resilience, bolstering autonomy, economy and generational renewal in the most vulnerable communities. Also through innovation and digitization, we are implementing a digital interoperable card. This has been crucial to ensure continuity of services and to improve and focus by reducing inefficiencies and guaranteeing that support really reaches those who need it. Panama reaffirms its commitment to the goal of human development and sustainable development on the understanding that demographic and social resilience forces us not only to assess our results, but also to go beyond our time and conceptual limits. Panama will continue to work for the prosperity of our people to ensure that it reaches each and every one of our citizens. I thank you.

Thank you very much for that statement.

To the representative of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Thank you, Mr. Moderator, and thanks for the excellent presentations. We welcome the note by Secretary General. As highlighted in the note and by some of the panelists, comprehensive care and support systems must respond to the needs and uphold the rights of both unpaid and paid care workers and support workers and of the people who require care and support. We also welcome the recognition of inclusive care and support policies as a public good and the application of the 5R framework to advance transformative and comprehensive care and support systems. We wish to underscore some additional priorities. These include state obligations and responsibilities of business enterprises, particularly employers and those private enterprises who provide care, and women's equal access to financial and productive resources such as inheritance, property, and land, which are essential to addressing gender inequality in care and support. In 2025, our office presented a normative analysis of the human rights dimensions of care and support systems to the Human Rights Council, and we also work in the field in Moldova and Mexico. We work with organizations of persons with disabilities, support workers and service providers to strengthen rights-based delivery and advise authorities on disability inclusion in care and support systems. Likewise, UN human rights mechanisms are actively addressing this issue, including through the work of the Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls, the Special Rapporteurs on Disability, Leprosy, Extreme Poverty and Education, and the Independent Experts on the Human Rights of Older Persons. OHCHR remains committed to working with states, UN entities, civil society, service providers, employers and workers, and above all with right holders to advance comprehensive right-based and gender, disability and age responsive care and support systems. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. I now give the final word to the representative of the International Federation for Family Development.

Excellencies, distinguished ministers, colleagues, as we reflect on the journey from Copenhagen to Doha, we have to remind that social development is built within families where individuals grow, learn, care, and are prepared to participate fully in society. I am speaking today on behalf of participants in an international internship program in social research and intervention organized by the IFFD in partnership with the Institute of Comparative Philosophy in Paris and the European Union's Erasmus+ program. This initiative offers young people a unique opportunity to combine social commitment, rigorous field of experience, and international exposure. while building a solid professional profile in social and family policy that directly supports the Commission priorities team. At the International Federation for Family Development, present in 68 countries across five continents, we know that parents are the primary caregivers, educators, and emotional anchors for children and youth. During the summit in Doha, IFFD has contributed to advancing these discussions by convening three solution sessions on family policies, care systems, and the role of the private sector in enabling family-friendly workplaces. Building on these outcomes, we are organizing a follow-up side event during this commission that will take place later today. We want to showcase how families play a decisive and often underestimated role in eradicating poverty and ensuring human dignity. When families are supported by resilient public policies and community-based services, they become powerful agents for social cohesion and breaking intergenerational cycles of poverty. Therefore, strengthening families through adequate income supports, Access to healthcare and education, parental support and work-family balance is not a secondary social objective, but a central strategy for sustainable development, social justice and the protection of human dignity. Within this context, I would like to raise the question of how governments can better ensure dignity through resilient care in recognizing the family as the main enabler of social development into measurable policies and outcome by 2030 and beyond. I thank you.

Thank you very much. Let me now give the floor to the panelists for Let me say, one minute final intervention in part answering some of the questions that were made. So, Mr. Youssef, you have the floor.

Thank you. Quickly, I would like to focus on that. I think we need to understand the importance of dealing with the care support system as a multidimensional aspect, exactly like the poverty, which has multidimensional aspect to providing fair, effective, well monitored. And this is very important that we have well monitored and increased accountability for the systems. Three, focus on family-based empowerment and support, but also taking care and widening the scope for the external caregivers, and we need to have clear, systematic strategies to empower them and support them. Finally, we have to engage with all stakeholders and right holders to make the things are clear, sustainable, efficient, equitable, and has the inclusion we need. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Now I give the floor to Mrs. Sahin.

Thank you, Mr. Moderator. In closing, today's discussion shows that social protection systems must go beyond income support. People's needs are interconnected and policies must respond to those realities. Integrating care and social protection help reduce vulnerability, supports participation in society and protects dignity across the life course, especially for women, children, older persons and persons with disabilities. Our shared challenge now is to move from fragmented responses to coordinated systems that identify needs early and connect people to the right support at the right time. If we invest in inclusive and care-sensitive social protection today, we are not only addressing poverty, but also building more resilient, inclusive and cohesive societies for the future. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Now I will give the floor to Ms. Arabi.

Thank you, moderator. I would just like to respond to the representative of children and youth. First of all, thank you for being here. The work that you do is exactly what the global policymaking community needs. You are right. We do need to protect the agency and autonomy of children, and we need to engage children more as partners in our design of policies and programs, especially in the field of care. There are some initiatives around the world that are taking this into consideration. Out of the top of my head, I'm just highlighting the Children 20 initiative, which tries to bring the voices of children to the G20 block. In addition to engaging children, or perhaps for those of us who cannot engage children in our work, I make a call that we engage our inner child because we were all children once. And we all know what felt good in our relationships, in our experiences, in our environments when we were children, and what did not. And having that child-centric view when creating solutions for our world will be invaluable. Thank you.

Thank you very much. And now I give the floor to Ms. Cobos.

Thank you, Mr. Moderator. I would like to share that the indicators on time use and many more data is compiled and simulated by the statistics division and through the SDG global database and also through the minimum set of gender indicators. There is also a dedicated online time use resources hub that provides survey documentation, methodological guidance, training materials and practical tools, as well as an inventory of national time use survey worldwide that you may want to visit. And secondly, and finally, I would like to highlight the importance of strengthening the links between the Conference of Social Development, the Commission of Social Development, with the Statistical Commission, both functional commissions of ECOSOC, to be able to develop policy systems and statistical systems that support each other. Thank you.

Well, thank you very much. It has been delightful to hear the presentations of the panelists as well as the interventions by member states and some of the international civil society organizations. Let me say that I think this panel reinforces the central message of the need to, you know, comprehensive care and support systems. I guess there has been a particular emphasis also on the issue that women are particularly on top of these care systems. And there's some fairness in that regard to the extent that that affects other dimensions of their development, particularly access to a job, to a formal job, which is important. It's also important to, again, in this panel, the emphasis on certain groups. you know, of course, children, you know, people with disability and aging population. But I think one interesting addition in this panel has been the emphasis on rural development issues, how to make a fair system also for the rural population, which was, I guess, not as emphasized in the first panel. With this, I close and I thank the invitation to moderate these two panels by the Commission of Social Development. And I want to celebrate the fact that there were eight women panelists.

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, we have reached the end of the panel discussion on comprehensive care systems as enablers of gender equality, social inclusion, and dignity. I thank Mr. Ocampo for skillfully guiding our discussion. I would also like to thank distinguished panelists from Egypt, Turkey, Board of Directors of Make Mothers Matter, and UN DESM. as well as the delegations for your contributions. The Commission has thus concluded its program of work for this meeting. The general discussion of sub-items A and B of agenda item 3 will resume this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. The meeting is adjourned.