A/68/293 7. Right to participation 58. Owing to systematic gender inequality and discrimination, the lack of value assigned to their work, its location in the domestic sphere and the time it entails, unpaid caregivers are often chronically disempowered and unable to enjoy their right to participation 64 in cultural, social, political and economic life (see A/HRC/23/36). 59. One of the most significant factors inhibiting women’s capacity to participate in public life is men’s failure to share unpaid care work, and the lack of services supporting this work. 65 Intense and unequal care responsibilities often confine women to the domestic sphere, excluding them from paid work and public life and preventing them from participating in important decision-making processes at the community and national level. 60. Lack of women’s perspective in policymaking on agriculture, water and food management, despite their being key actors in these areas, results in misinformed decision-making and jeopardizes women’s rights further. Similarly, policy discussions at all levels suffer from an inherent bias because women and men with intensive caring responsibilities are not present, contributing to the invisibility and inattention to care work in public policy. 61. As the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has stated, relieving women of some of the burdens of domestic work would allow them to engage more fully in the life of their communities. 66 In the short term, States must ensure that women’s unpaid care responsibilities are not a barrier to their participation in public and political life on an equal basis with men, at the national, regional and local levels (see A/HRC/23/36). In the long term, to ensure women’s full and equal enjoyment of this right, States must work towards an equal distribution of unpaid care work, including by tackling traditional gender norms and stereotypes. IV. The urgency of prioritizing care in policy 62. Addressing care as a human rights issue is particularly imperative at this time when, owing to several factors and trends, caregiving arrangements are under great pressure. Rising levels of female education and workforce participation, and changes in the organization of labour and production — for example increased job turnover and decreased social security coverage — has squeezed the time that families can allocate to care. Simultaneously, water, fuel and food shortages, climate change, 67 major health crises and migration have intensified care needs and responsibilities, particularly in developing countries. Through all of this, the __________________ 64 65 66 67 13-42271 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, articles 21 and 27; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 25; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, articles 13.1 and 15.1; and Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, articles 7, 8, 13 (c) and 14.2. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general recommendation No. 23, para. 10. Ibid., para. 11. Climate changes have led to excessive rain, dust or temperatures, exacerbating difficulties in accessing fuel and clean water. 15/24