Transforming Care Systems in the Context of the Sustainable Development Goals and Our Common Agenda. UN System Policy Paper

As we reach the midway point to 2030, we must find new and better ways to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Addressing drivers of equality and identifying levers of change that have multiplier effects have proven effective. This is the case for care work, mostly carried out by women, unpaid or underpaid, informal and invisible. Despite its inherent value to societies, communities and families, unpaid care work is also excluded from Gross Domestic Product (GDP) calculations. Transformative initiatives are now required, and comprehensive care systems are part of the response. Currently, efforts are underway to expand the measures beyond GDP to provide a holistic approach to development. Additionally, gender equality is crucial to achieve sustainable development, yet the persistent undervaluing and the gendered division of unpaid and paid care work is a driver of inequality that continues to undermine the achievement of progress across the SDGs. We have the opportunity to build a future where care responsibilities are shared fairly and time, resources, power and work are redistributed, in order to move towards more caring and equal societies. Our efforts to transform care systems must be advanced through reinvigorated multilateralism and cross-disciplinary approaches with the United Nations (UN) at the centre of efforts, working closely with Member States and other partners. This guidance paper provides a practical framework for UN Agencies to take forward our shared vision and commitment. The outcome of two consultations on care societies and the SDGs – held in November 2022 and February 2023 – this document serves as practical guidance for UN Agencies at the country, regional and global level to address care within the context of the SDGs and Our Common Agenda. It aims to inform and harmonize UN Agency efforts on care by offering definitions, guiding principles, approaches and policy options that can be contextualized to different socioeconomic realities. In doing so, it seeks to amplify the impact of the UN System in advancing comprehensive care systems that enable gender equality, well-being and social justice alongside sustainable development and economic transformation.