Zimbabwe has reaffirmed its commitment to recognising unpaid care and domestic work as a key pillar of economic and social development by joining regional leaders at the 2026 National Transfer Accounts (NTA) Africa Conference on Population and Development in Senegal.
The country is participating alongside Kenya and Benin in the July 28-30 conference in Saly, where policymakers are advancing reforms aimed at integrating unpaid care and domestic work into national policy and legal frameworks.
“The conference comes at a critical time for the recognition of care work across Africa, with countries making progress in developing policies and legal frameworks on unpaid care and domestic work,” said the organisers, Women’s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence (WALPE Zimbabwe), in a statement.
The statement noted that Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare had signalled its readiness to develop the policy and legislative framework needed to support caregivers and integrate care work into national development planning.
“These milestones demonstrate growing political commitment to recognising care work as a public good that deserves public investment,” it said.
According to the organisers, the conference provides a platform for African countries to accelerate evidence-based policies that recognise the contribution of unpaid care and domestic work to national development.
Zimbabwe has emerged as one of the leading advocates for care economy reforms in Southern Africa after Parliament debated a motion calling for the recognition of unpaid care and domestic work.
Zimbabwe’s delegation includes Senator Maybe Mbohwa, officials from the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, and representatives of the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, taking part under the #AfricaCaresForHer initiative, which is implemented by the Women’s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence (WALPE Zimbabwe), WowMom Kenya and Le Consortium Régional en Économie Générationnelle (CREG-Benin), with support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Global Affairs Canada.
As part of the conference, the #AfricaCaresForHer consortium will also host a high-level side event bringing together policymakers, legislators and development partners from across Africa to exchange experiences and strategies for advancing legal and policy reforms on unpaid care and domestic work.
Zimbabwe is expected to share its experiences in building political support for care economy reforms while learning from policy developments in Kenya and Benin as the three countries seek to strengthen regional cooperation.
This conference comes as governments across Africa increasingly recognise that unpaid care work, largely undertaken by women and girls, underpins households, labour markets and national economies but remains undervalued and largely excluded from public policy and investment decisions.
