SIGI 2024 Regional Report for Southeast Asia
Time to Care
What are the structural barriers to women's empowerment and inclusive development
in Southeast Asia? Building on data from the fifth edition of the SIGI, the SIGI 2024
Regional Report for Southeast Asia: Time to Care provides new evidence-based analysis
on the progress and setbacks in eliminating the root causes of gender inequality in
11 countries of the region. It underscores how multiple personal status laws perpetuate
gender-based legal discrimination. The analysis also shows that social norms governing
gender roles and responsibilities worsened between 2014 and 2022, particularly affecting
women’s educational and economic rights.
The report explores a critical policy area for the region, the care economy. Stressing
the gendered, informal, and unpaid dimensions of care, it draws on social, demographic,
educational and economic evidence to forecast a growing demand for care services in
Southeast Asian countries. The report advocates for the strategic development of formal
care systems as a unique opportunity to accelerate women's economic empowerment, build
inclusive societies and strengthen the region's resilience to external shocks – including
those induced by climate change. To dismantle the barriers that prevent the emergence
and expansion of such a formal care economy, it provides concrete recommendations
to policy makers and other stakeholders.
Published on March 18, 2024
In series:Social Institutions and Gender Indexview more titles