Learning Project: Integrating Care into Development Practice

admin Event

In November 2013 Gender & Development  launched its third Learning Project, this time focusing on Care.Care has an increasingly high profile as an issue in international spaces, but development practitioners, activists and researchers continue to encounter many challenges in making it visible, valued and recognised. This Learning Project aims to collate, synthesise and inspire learning on Care by: highlighting new research, practice and policy initiatives in different contexts; exploring ways in which programmes, policies and legislation can be designed to reduce and redistribute the Care load; and sharing experiences and approaches that can influence current and future work.Read the full overview of the project (PDF 112KB)

Project Components

The project included the following components:

Journal Issue

Gender & Development 22(3) Care

The culmination of the project – a special issue of Gender & Development featuring articles developed through the online discussion and learning event.

Learning Event in London 10-11 February 2014

Participants from the online discussion were joined by others in an exciting event – sharing learning, and discussing their visions of feminist, transformative approaches to care. With experience of working on care in a variety of different contexts, including in conflict situations, union organising, tracking unpaid care work in development programmes, private sector approaches, and working with men, this diverse group of practitioners will provide the content for our special  issue on Care, to be published in November 2014.

Becca Asaki of GROOTS/Huairou and other participants, hard at work at the Learning Event

Online Discussion 4-5 November 2013

The 4th and 5th November 2013 saw 50 specially-invited experts take part inour 48-hour online discussion, exploring Care as it affects (and is affected by) development and humanitarian work. The discussion, which proved to be rich and thoughtful, followed three different topic threads, and we have made available the transcripts of the discussions for each different thread below, so you can follow the debates as they developed.

Topic 1: What experience exists of programmes and projects which involve care and carework? (PDF 290KB)

Topic 2: What would a transformative women’s rights-focused care programme look like? (PDF 116KB)

Topic 3: What is needed to turn this vision into a reality? (PDF 123KB)