Action for paid Childcare sector Transformation

This project aims to enhance the economic empowerment of women paid childcare providers in Kenya and Malawi. Project activities include: (1) supporting women's paid childcare groups and collectives to develop and execute gender-responsive advocacy and coordination strategies; (2) developing gender and disability-responsive curriculum training and certification standards for childcare; (3) supporting policymakers and regulators to advance gender-transformative laws policies and regulations for childcare; (4) developing campaigns to raise awareness about sexual and gender-based violence and the rights of women in paid childcare; (5) providing matching grants to local organizations to develop and expand innovative and gender-responsive business services and models for women paid childcare providers; and (6) supporting financial service providers to develop and expand gender-responsive products or services that meet the needs and capacities of women childcare providers. World University Service of Canada (WUSC) implements this project in partnership with local organizations: the Coalition of Violence Against Women and the Women’s Legal Resources Centre in collaboration with other local partners. This project expects to reach 42 000 women childcare providers including microenterprise operators and childcare workers operating in target areas of Kenya and Malawi.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) improved childcare ecosystem actors’ gender-responsive performance in Kenya and Malawi; (2) enhanced protection and promotion of the rights and needs of women paid childcare providers in Kenya and Malawi; and (3) enhanced provision of gender-responsive financial and business services and models by ecosystem actors to women paid childcare providers in Kenya and Malawi.