Caregiving is essential for human well-being and sustainable economic growth; however, it is highly gendered and undervalued. Around the world, the unequal share of paid and unpaid work is often borne by women and girls, engendering dramatic consequences. Aggravated by the COVID-19 Pandemic, this disproportionate responsibility threatens to halt the hard-fought social and economic gains that women have achieved worldwide.

Unfortunately, care work has been deemed “essential work” in Tunisia. Women have to clean, wash, cook, and take care of the household, as well as take care of their children and their schooling, their spouses, and their family members who are sick or elderly. This uneven distribution of care and domestic work puts much more pressure on Tunisian women and girls and further prevents them from participating fully in the workforce.