EU Statement – UN General Assembly 2nd Committee: before the vote on the Care Economy resolution
Chair,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.
The Candidate Countries North Macedonia*, Montenegro*, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina* and Georgia, as well as the EFTA country Iceland, align themselves with this statement.
We commend Chile for their initiative and warmly thank the facilitator, Ms. Camila Ortiz, for her tireless efforts during the negotiations, as well as the Secretariat for their support.
The EU and its Member States support this important resolution.
Globally, unpaid care and domestic work, predominantly carried out by women and girls, remains an essential yet overlooked economic activity. Paid care work, meanwhile, continues to be undervalued. It was high time that the Second Committee address a sector of growing importance in our 21st century economies.
We welcome that this draft resolution acknowledges that these gaps contribute to the feminization of poverty, unequal access to decent work and social protection, as well as unequal pay for work of equal value.
This resolution emphasizes the macroeconomic and social contribution of the care economy to sustainable development and sends an important message on the need to integrate care-related data into national processes, and increase investment in care systems, as key drivers of inclusive growth, gender equality and poverty eradication.
We welcome a report of the Secretary-General that seeks to elaborate on how we can achieve that goal, complementing ongoing work within the UN to recognize the care economy as a macroeconomic driver of sustainable growth, and to ensure the implementation of this resolution in the Second Committee.
Chair,
We recall that the transfer of technology that we commit to must be based on voluntary agreements concluded on mutually agreed terms. We would have liked to see unambiguous language in the resolution in this regard.
Finally, we regret that a vote has been called on this resolution This undermines our collective effort and the constructive spirit of striving for consensus.
I thank you.
*North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.