Policy

COVID-19 has highlighted the centrality of care and women’s labour (paid and unpaid). While there is a growing body of literature on specific policy measures to address care work in different contexts, there is no global practical tool to track progress against key policy areas. This article introduces the Care Policy Scorecard, an evidence-based policy […]

Emerging global crises such as climate change, massive migrations, pandemics, and environmental degradation are posing serious risks to humanity, threatening ecosystems and rural livelihoods across the globe. The poor, and especially the most marginalised among the poor, are disproportionately affected. Climate change in particular is expected to exacerbate pre-existing social inequalities, including gender inequalities. Therefore, […]

This article contributes to discussions on the gender dimensions of disease outbreaks, and preparedness policies and responses, by providing a multi-level analysis of gender-related gaps, particularly illustrating how the failure to challenge gender assumptions and incorporate gender as a priority at the global level has national and local impacts. The implications of neglecting gender dynamics, […]

Very little is known about activism, as it relates to the issue of migration in South Africa. Yet, migration policy and migration governance are increasingly becoming important to states like South Africa, which, 22 years into democracy, finds itself being home to the second highest number of migrants in Africa. This paper fills this gap […]

This article examines the new agenda for sustainable development adopted by the United Nations, to see if it contains policies for gender equity and equality as well as for sustainable development in tune with planetary boundaries. It finds that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are not ambitious and lack a systematic policy approach. It therefore […]

This article focuses on women’s rights organisations and their role in challenging inequality within the development process. Women in poverty are excluded as a result of their unequal societal position, geographic location, and the predominance of ‘topdown’ and piecemeal policymaking processes carried out by donor governments. We argue that in-country women’s rights organisations provide the […]

Unpaid care work is a critical human rights issue, as well as a major obstacle to gender equality and poverty reduction. This article draws attention to the impact of heavy, intensive, and unequal burdens of unpaid care work on the human rights of women living in poverty, and analyses the relevance of international human rights law to decisions on […]