The United Nations (UN)’s International Day of Care and Support (IDCS) was annually observed across the globe on 29 October to raise awareness about the importance of caregiving and support for individuals who need assistance due to illness, disability, or other challenges.
- 29 October 2024 marks the 2nd observance of the IDCS.
Theme:
The theme of IDCS 2024 is “Transforming care systems to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals(SDG) in the context of Beijing+30”
- The theme highlights the importance of enhancing care systems to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and stresses the need to take action to transform the gendered division of care work and to value paid and unpaid care work.
Background:
i.On 24 July 2023, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution A/RES/77/317 and decided to proclaim the 29 October of every year as the International Day of Care and Support(ICDS).
ii.The First IDCS was observed on 29 October 2023.
Significance:
i.The annual global observance aims to recognize the crucial need to invest in the care economy and establish resilient, inclusive support systems that value and redistribute unpaid care and domestic work.
ii.The day also aims to raise awareness of the importance of care and support in fostering gender equality and sustaining societies and economies.
iii.It emphasizes rectifying disparities between paid and unpaid care, promoting fair treatment. It also emphasises the significance of acknowledging and valuing paid care work, underscoring its vital role.
Decent Work and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG):
Goal 8: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment, and decent work for all.
- The Decent Work for Sustainable Development (DW4SD) Resource Platform offers integrated guidance and working resources on the relationship between Decent Work and Sustainable Development for constituents, ILO staff, UN country team members, development partners and other stakeholders to support national SDG processes.
2024 Events:
i.The United States of America(USA) based UN Women, in collaboration with the Geneva(Switzerland) based International Labour Organization(ILO), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and co-sponsored by Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, the Philippines, and Spain, is facilitating the UN’s second observance of the IDCS 2024.
ii.On 29th October 2024, the ILO will celebrate the observance of the IDCS by highlighting the Resolution concerning Decent Work and the Care Economy, adopted at the ILO International Labour Conference in June 2024.
Key Facts:
i.According to ILO, the global care workforce comprises 249 million women and 132 million men.
ii.Around the world, health and care work is chronically undervalued, and 76% of unpaid care work is performed by women. These unpaid contributions to health care equate to 2.35% of global GDP, or the equivalent of USD 1.5 trillion every year.
iii.By 2030, the number of care recipients is predicted to reach 2.3 billion, driven by an additional 0.1 billion older persons and an additional 0.1 billion children aged 6 to 14 years.
iv.The total sectoral employment in education and health and social work is likely to increase by almost one-quarter to a total of 248 million jobs by 2030.
v.Investment in the care economy to achieve the SDGs means a total of 475 million jobs by 2030.
About United Nations(UN):
Secretary General – António Guterres
Headquarters – New York, the United States of America(USA)
Establishment – 1945
