2024 – Oxfam has produced a paper that explores major advocacy wins on care policy in six countries: Canada, Kenya, Mexico, the Philippines, Uruguay, and Zimbabwe. In every case, these wins resulted from the efforts of national and local women-led civil society organizations, feminist networks, international NGOs, and academics. This paper discusses some of the important elements that contributed to the wins, including the political and socio-economic contexts, enablers and challenges that slow the process. It also discusses how governments were engaged, names the key actors, describes strategies and tactics that worked and specific messaging and narratives that galvanized support.
The paper concludes by sharing some key learnings from the case studies, as starting points or inspiration for other advocates along their journey, grant makers looking for the right investment, governments seeking policy solutions and better engagement with civil society.