Care Economy Takes Center Stage
as Core Pillar of Women, Peace, and Security Agenda
The Philippines has opened a vital new chapter in its efforts to build resilient and inclusive peace, declaring that “caring for people is not separate from caring for peace.” This message of hope and action was highlighted on the second day of the Philippine Conference on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), on October 29, 2025.
During the plenary session entitled “Understanding the Care Economy: A Pathway to Peace, Security, and Gender Equality,” key leaders galvanized support for recognizing the Care Economy—both paid and unpaid work—as essential to national peace, security, and development, providing concrete examples of progress and outlining a clear path forward.
Recognizing Care as an Economic and Peace Imperative
Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) Chairperson Ermelita V. Valdeavilla underscored the paradigm shift: “Peace is not only built across negotiation tables or in reconstruction sites—it is also built in homes, communities, and care spaces where women sustain life every day.”
PCW Chairperson Ermelita Valdeavilla delivering her framing presentation to provide a clear and accessible overview of the Care Economy
The session’s call to action centered on recognizing, reducing, and redistributing unpaid care work, while ensuring fair treatment for paid care workers. This initiative is seen as a crucial step to strengthen social cohesion, resilience, and inclusive peace, especially in conflict-affected areas.
Philippine Statistics Authority Chief Statistical Specialist Ms. Bernadette B. Balamban during the panel discussion
Data from the Time Use Survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority show that the disproportionate burden of unpaid care on women, particularly in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and other fragile provinces, severely limits their participation in peace processes and livelihood recovery. Thus, there is a need to integrate care-sensitive data into peace building and recovery frameworks.
Municipal Mayor of Salcedo, Eastern Samar, Atty. Melchor L. Mergal, during the panel discussion
Salcedo, Eastern Samar Municipal Mayor Atty. Melchor L. Mergal shared the local innovation of the LGU with the enactment of an ordinance recognizing and valuing unpaid care and domestic work in 2018. Said ordinance was amended in 2024 to establish a Municipal Care Council. This body is now tasked with planning and budgeting for programs to address care needs, effectively making women’s economic empowerment and care a priority sector. This shows how local governance can directly translate the WPS and care agenda into tangible community action.
The Path Forward: Sustained Investment and Policy Action
Moving ahead, the focus is on asserting the state’s primary role in developing comprehensive care systems.
Oxfam Pilipinas Gender Justice Program Manager, Ms. Jeanette Kindipan-Dulawan, during the panel discussion
Oxfam Pilipinas Gender Justice Program Manager Jeanette Kindipan-Dulawan stressed the need to “reclaim the public nature of care,” emphasizing that the state must provide quality public care services. She highlighted that applying care-sensitive and gender-transformative approaches, based on work with women’s organizations in BARMM, can simultaneously advance economic recovery and peace.
Panelists of the session entitled “Investing in the Care Economy as a Pathway to Peace, Security, and Gender Equality,” with officials from the Philippine Commission on Women (L-R: ED Nharleen Santos-Millar, Atty. Melchor L. Mergal, Ms. Jeanette Kindipan-Dulawan, Ms. Bernadette B. Balamban, Deputy Director Anette Baleda, OIC-Deputy Director Macario Jusayan)
In her synthesis, PCW Executive Director Nharleen Santos-Millar affirmed that care is a political and economic concern that underpins productivity, community resilience, and peace building at every level of society.
ED Nharleen Santos-Millar providing a synthesis and wrapping up the session on the Care Economy
“Today’s conversation reminds us that a peaceful nation is not just one without conflict; it is one where every person, especially every woman, can care and be cared for with dignity,” said Executive Director Santos-Millar.
Jointly led by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity, the Department of Budget and Management, and the PCW, the conference brings together government, civil society, and grassroots women leaders to ensure that these key agendas reach the barangay and household levels—the very core of where peace is lived and sustained. Anchored on the 25th Anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, the three-day event reaffirms the country’s commitment to gender-responsive peace and highlights care as both an economic and peace imperative toward building resilient and inclusive communities. It will run from October 28 to 30, 2025 at the Philippine International Convention Center.