Women in Africa including Kenya continue to engage in duties perceived by society as their sole roles; fetching water, taking care of the sick and looking after their loved ones with disability.
Society has made them believe that it is normal for them to do all these things.
As a result, day in and day out they do these tasks diligently, hardly leaving them with free time to enjoy their own social lives.
Experts now say it is time to have policies to appreciate unpaid work and change men's attitude to know they too can be part of these chores.
They say women work for long hours without pay, pushing them to episodes of anxiety and depression.
A research study conducted in Kenya and Uganda after the Covid-19 pandemic found that despite water being essential in the virus containment measures, lack of a steady supply of the same left women struggling to ensure their families get the precious commodity.
"In Uganda, women were distressed because containment measures were stringent and highly militarised yet they had to ensure family gets water," Benard Abudho said.
Abudho was speaking during the Women RISE initiative end of project workshop.
The workshop brings together more than 120 delegates comprising of 23 research teams from 16 countries.
According to Abudho, older women are most affected by doing unpaid work compared to those aged between 16 and 25 years. This also denies younger women enough time to focus on their studies.
The study was conducted among 1,135 women in Kenya and 1,027 in Uganda to find out the impact of Covid-19 on WASH and women's health.
It was found that a lot of women also spend their time taking care of the sick at home, with the research recommending that the government should invest in a working healthcare system that would ensure all the sick are taken care of in health facilities.
Similarly, the government and other partners have been challenged to come up with institutions that care for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) to save women time they spend taking care of their loved ones with Disabilities.
"We should have policies to appreciate unpaid work and change attitude by men to understand that helping women will help them have some free time," Abudho said.
"Due to societal perception, women have believed that it is normal for them to engage in these tasks. They have to be made to change the mindset and realise these duties can also be done with the help from the men."
Another study conducted in Lebanon found that women spend up to 70 per cent of their hours weekly on unpaid labour.
Jocelyn Delang, a principal investigator from the American University of Beirut said most of the unpaid work is either housework, maintenance, adult care or childcare.
Women in Lebanon were found to spend 40 per cent on housework and 30 per cent on childcare compared to about 25 per cent of men hours being spend on maintenance work among men.
Dean, Graduate School of Media and communications at The Aga Khan University Nancy Booker said women spend quite a significant amount of time working yet the work often times is not considered as work in itself.
“Policies should be able to recognise that it is not just the formal work that is paid for but there is also unpaid work that happens and needs to be quantified and recognised in significant ways,” she said.
She also acknowledged that there is a link between unpaid work and women’s health hence the need to ensure that there are health interventions put in place for women who are not in the formal working environments to ensure their wellbeing.
The Women RISE Initiative is a global undertaking aimed at supporting research focused on the intersection of Women’s health and their work (whether paid or unpaid) in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The aim is to generate solutions in the context of preparedness, response, and recovery from past and future pandemics.
The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) leads the health policy and research organisation in collaboration with the Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications (GSMC).
The meeting, co-convened by APHRC and Women RISE, brings together 23 global research teams, policymakers, health leaders, and representatives to showcase innovative, action-oriented research on the intersection of women's health and work, particularly in Covid-19 preparedness, response and recovery.
The State Department of Gender and Affirmative Action has sought to incorporate the findings of the Women RISE initiative to the Kenya National Care Policy which seeks to address the longstanding issue of unpaid domestic and care work predominantly performed by women and girls.
Speaking during the workshop, the State Department of Gender and Affirmative Action, Secretary Gender Dr Josephine Obonyo said that despite the triple threats of climate change, conflict, and Covid-19 slowing progress on gender equality, the commitment to improving women's rights remains strong.
“Findings from initiatives like Women RISE are crucial in advancing long-term, unwavering support for transformative change,” Obonyo said.
She said the government must seize every opportunity to propel women toward equality, shift attitudes and perceptions, and highlight their contributions while embedding gender equality into policy and practice.
“The insights gained today will significantly inform the National Care Policy, which is awaiting Cabinet approval and seeks to recognize, redistribute, and fairly compensate care work while challenging traditional gender roles,” she said.
Women RISE emphasises knowledge mobilisation, capacity building, and networking to ensure impactful outcomes.
“Funding scientific cross-sectorial collaboration and evidence is important in advancing policies based on evidence. This initiative has been imperative in providing context-specific solutions when it comes to the interface between women's health and work, both paid and unpaid pre and post the COVID-19 pandemic,” Montasser Kamal said.
Kamal is the Director of Global Health, International Development Research Centre Global Health (IDRC).
