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The Paper presents a new perspective to the understanding of the social organization of care

within the context of globalization. It addresses the globalization of care by focusing on global

care chains and international instruments which set the mandate for care at the transnational

level. The former is used to explain the gender and development dimensions of global care

chains while the latter provides for the review of international agreements which coordinate care

issues at the global level.

Before proceeding to review the Paper it is important that note be taken of the it’s context to

enable it to be put into the proper perspective. It is a technical paper published by the UN

Women Training Center an institution which promotes the use of training/learning to advance

gender equality, women’s empowerment and women’s rights. One of the key objectives of the Paper is to counter the focus on care in specific country contexts and the resultant assumption that problems encountered in care provision are territory-specific, local or national. This it does by pointing out that in the context of globalization all dimensions of the socio-economic system are dependent on the broader context and also global interconnections, which are getting increasingly deeper. Care is no exception to this. It’s the internationalisation of care work, mostly but not limited to, domestic work, which it asserts has led to the formation of global chains. Increasingly, the Paper further adds, care has become led by supranational agents made up of private agents, a result of the liberalization of the service sector worldwide, and public agents which are international multilateral organisations whose public policy decision-making relating to care have impacted on the sector.

The Paper also examines in great detail the genesis of the phenomenon, its characteristics,

involvement, role, importance and impact. It covers (1) the role of women in care, (2) the care crisis, (3) migrant women and (4) households. It also investigates the social dynamics of global

care chains including power differences based on gender, ethnicity, social class and place of

origin. Gender inequalities and the effects of the partial resolution of the crisis of care through

the expansion of job opportunities, are also investigated.

The origins of global care chains is traced to the emergence of the crisis of care and the resulting outsourcing of work which women had hitherto done mostly for free. At the same time it became increasingly common for care work to be done by people from other countries. This, it asserts, represents the “internationalization” of the institutions of care (homes for the aged, daytime care centres, preschools, etc.) managed by both private companies and the public sector, especially in cases where they are directly hired by families.

The Paper recaps the major concepts, terminologies and assumptions used before it examines the globalization of care and global care chains. It stresses the importance of the former and points out that this critical dimension of the globalization process is very often “invisible”. The

importance of the private sector is highlighted through the increasing influence of multinational

corporations and their commercialization of many aspects of the “traditional” care service which

they have diversified in terms of the range of services they currently offer.

For public agents, the Paper details three things which have made them as important as private

agents, as far as care work is concerned. These are;

a) the influence of international multilateral organisations in decision-making as far as

public policy and the pre-determination of economic and social policy conditions relating

to care are concerned

b) bilateral and multilateral international cooperation in the provision of care which are

oftentimes directly responsible for care services or their financing, and

c) bilateral social security agreements as they coordinate welfare benefits between home and destination countries.

International cooperation, both bilateral and multilateral, has become increasingly present in care provision. It includes bilateral social security agreements which have increasingly gained

importance. The new international division of labour, the Paper asserts is a characteristic of

globalization including care work. However, contrary to what happens to other areas of the

economy when globalization occurs, in the case of care instead of relocating “production” to the

territories where the needed labour abounds, it has rather had a converse reaction and relocated this labour to the required areas primarily because care work cannot be separated from those who receive it. As a result it is care workers and not those being cared for, who are moving.

Global Care Chains, according to the Paper, are the most discussed dimension of the

globalization of care. They bring together homes (households) from different parts of the world

to provide the needed care. The metaphor of the “chain” is used to highlight the interconnectivity

and interlocking links through which care flows. The “chains” are discussed in the context of

three “links”;

a) the employer household - which is transferring care to a migrant,

b) the migrant household - which performs care in destination countries, and

c) the home country household - consisting those who depend on the migrant’s care work

Other “links”, the Paper further contends, may be joined to these. The migration of women, the

Paper establishes, leads to the reorganization of the provision of care in their own households. The role played by women in this regard is paramount, especially that of women from the

extended household who step in to provide this service after the “principal” woman migrates.

In reviewing global care chains the Paper also illustrates how they depict the interlinked and

intertwined nature of households in different global locations. A key observation made here is

that caregiving tasks are transferred from one household to another based on what it calls the

“axes of power”. This is said to be the difference in power based on issues of gender, ethnicity,

social class and place of origin. This is inextricably connected to inequality, as it is in the case of

the dynamics in other care arrangements. Global care chains thereby connect gender equalities in the countries of origin with those in the destination, and this, the Paper adds, constitutes the core of this phenomenon which it terms the “feminisation of migration”. It categories Global Chains on the basis of the different impact it has on each of the households involved and concludes with an assessment of its overall impact in this regard. At the household level impact is positive as a result of the service provided being in response to a particular need in the receiving household. It however points out that this is not a solution to all care deficiencies and does not also imply the end to other aspects of care. In some cases this leads to the intensification of social differentiation processes and inhibits gender roles being questioned as well as progress towards the fairer distribution of unpaid care work.

The impact on migrant homes is however negative as it infringes significantly on these

households right to care. Poor labour conditions and the violation of labour rights negatively

impact on the exercise of other rights and pose a risk to the domestic worker’s own health and

care. In formulating public policy consideration is not always given to the care needs of migrant

families/households which are different from those of the native-born population. This creates a

situation in which migrant families/households are faced with difficulties in addressing their own

members care needs, particularly as they tend to lack the resources to combine paid work and

care responsibilities.

At the level of the household in the home country the impact is said to be not as positive as at the household level in the destination country. At this level women’s migration, while bringing with it an improvement in the preconditions of care, also make direct care difficult. Here the Paper agrees with migration theorists who view migration as a strategy to receive remittances to cover expectations and well-being needs. However when women migrate care is rearranged and whether migration results in vulnerabilities or empowerment depends on several factors in the home and destination countries. Migration therefore is considered an additional risk which adds to the deficiencies and vulnerabilities at this level, caused by the fact that care is not a social priority.

In terms of the impact of global care chains on the care system the Paper argues that they are

known to provide private solutions to problems that ought to be collectively solved. What is new

about them is the global character the phenomenon has assumed. In assessing the overall impact of Global Care Chains on households the Paper concludes that the impact is neither completely positive nor completely negative.

Starting with the global crisis of care, the Paper argues that the globalization of care urges

countries to implement cross-border interventions to promote comprehensive co-responsibility

for care. It also calls for the attention that care receives in development models to be given

priority and for the challenges to care to be adequately addressed at the international level.

Subsequently six relevant international instruments are reviewed in addition to four ILO

Conventions and two Regional Instruments. The Paper calls for all agreements on care to clearly and definitively address policies on care. To allow for easier analysis they are categorised as being;

Gender related

a. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against

Women (CEDAW) - Articles 2 and 11

b. The Beijing Platform for Action - Action F

c. The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights

of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) - Article 13

d. Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa

Rights related

e. The Quito Consensus – several relevant agreements

f. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - Articles 9, 11,

12 and 13

g. International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of rights of All Migrant

Workers and their Families

Children related

h. The Convention on the Rights of the Child - Articles 18, 20 and 23

Special Needs related

i. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - Articles 19, 20, 23,

24, 25 and 28

ILO Conventions

j. ILO Conventions 156, 182, 183 and 189

The instruments cover a range of issues on various aspects of care work and the care worker

Namely;

Gender

a) discrimination against women

b) dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy or maternity leave

c) equal sharing of responsibilities

d) measures for making visible women’s contributions to the economy and the value

of women’s work at home

e) measures to reduce the workload of women and expand their employment

opportunities

f) maternity related rights including the right to maternity leave with cash benefits

and prohibition of termination of employment due to pregnancy

Government/State

g) provision of social services

h) progress towards establishing a right to care and making unpaid work more

visible

i) development or promotion of public or private community services such as

childcare and family services and facilities

Economic & Financial

j) employment policies and right to equal access to employment

k) labour laws, social security benefits and the social organization of care

l) rights of irregular migrants, the right of migrant children to education and migrant

persons with legal status’s right to family reunification.

Human Rights

m) job protected parental leave and parental benefits

n) common obligations of parents regarding the raising of children

o) right of persons with family responsibilities to exercise their right to employment

Special Needs

p) barriers which hinder disabilities

Children

q) obligation of states parties to institute action to eliminate the worst forms of child

labour, including boys and girls in domestic service,

In the context of international development the MDGs and their links to care are reviewed to

include examples. This part concludes with a recommendation that issues relating to care need to be addressed during the formulation of the SDGs.

The Paper provides a comprehensive overview and in-depth investigation into the phenomenon

of Global Care Chains. The use of case studies helps better illustrate the complicated and

complex nature of these chains as does the analogy of “chains” which make it easier to

conceptualize the linkages between various components. The use of diagrams also help

understand the impact that they have on the various households. It also does a very good job of

providing a comprehensive overview of the existing international cooperation landscape, as far

as care at the global level is concerned.

It goes on to provide recommendations on how international instruments may be further utilized

to protect and enshrine the interests of care workers worldwide while addressing issues of

transnational domestic work. This provides a great starting point for further investigation into the

effectiveness and potentials of these instruments and agreements. A very important observation

made here is that these agreements are very powerful vehicles which may be used to make and

push proposals for a right to care. Additionally being a very technical paper, it is very helpful

that a prelude is provided right at the beginning in the form of the “Take away points” as this

makes it easier to grasp the main concepts and tenets, before plunging into the study.

However while the Paper provides highlights of some regional data on migration and domestic

work there is no cross-regional comparison and/or analysis. It would have been even more

enlightening to have had this as it would have helped bring to the fore any similarities and/or

differences that may exist across regions. This would have greatly contributed to learning more

of any relevant findings, lessons and/or approaches.

Finally the Paper’s focus seems to be mainly on women, which is quite understandable given the publisher’s mandate and fact that women constitute the majority of care workers. This however leads to the taking of a lopsided position as currently migration literature acknowledges the fact that the involvement of men in the sector is increasing.

By the end of the Chapter the reviewer is left with the impression that despite its drawbacks the

Paper successfully tackles the globalization of care by focusing on global chains and international instruments. I find it a very educative, insightful and thought provoking study of the subject.

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ABSTRACT

The paper examines the African diaspora, the contribution made to development in the region

and efforts by public and private institutions to engage them for development. It considers

efforts by African countries to revamp policies to enhance engagement with the diaspora and

structures to manage and report on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Transitional Migration Theories and

Transnationalism are used to explain and contextualise the African diaspora within current

transnational frames which allow for their interaction with both their countries of origin and

destination. The methodology used was to identify related literature, review them on the basis

of relevance and select the most relevant. The Paper could however not do an adequate

country-level analysis of some of the arising themes due to the limited availability of research

material. A major finding is that institutional gaps exist between the African diaspora’s

contributions to development and the achievement of the SDGs in African countries, despite

their complementary and overlapping nature and very little is being done to bridge this. It

concludes by buttressing evidence that the African diaspora plays a key role in development

in the region and recognising the substantial efforts that have gone into harnessing and

enhancing this. The paper recommends the incorporation of the African diaspora’s

contributions directly into institutional processes and structures set up for the SDGs, for

greater policy coherence, and calls for more research and the enhancement of the engagement

with the diaspora, through new and innovative approaches.

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Migration has assumed a high priority on the international agenda because of the plethora of growing interconnections between the movement of people and States. Globalization facilitated by new technologies, cheaper transportation and easy communications has enhanced international migration.  Between 1970 and 2017 international migrants increased from 82 million to around 244 million, comprising 3.5 three percent of the world’s population (Betts and Kainz, 2017; Global Report 2019, IOM). This has steadily increased to 258 million in 2018 (Migration World Report, 2018). The number of international migrants in 2019 is now estimated at 270 million (Global Report 2019, IOM). It is estimated to rise to almost 340 million in 2020 (Migration Data Portal, 2019)

Dialogue and debate on international migration have proliferated over the past two decades, depicting the importance it has come to assume on the international public policy agenda recently (Newland K, 2010). Issues relating to migration, against the background of the challenges migration entails, have become of great concern and there has been the growing recognition of the need for it to be made safer and better regulated. One area of such dialogue and debate has been on the establishment of a continuing process through which conflicting or diverse interests may be accommodated and co-operative action taken, referred to as global governance (GG) in international migration (GGIM). Owing to the diverse social, economic, and political implications issues relating to migration, an urgent need has arisen for its proper management to ensure that benefits accrued are maximized and associated costs minimized.

GGIM has been defined by the Commission on Global Governance as the “ sum of many ways individuals and institutions, public and private, manage their common affairs” (1995:2). It includes formal institutions and regimes empowered to enforce compliance, as well as

informal arrangements that people and institutions either have agreed to or perceive to be in

their interest (Ibid). O'Brien/Williams regards it as “the overarching system which regulates human affairs on a worldwide basis. [...] The mechanisms and rules of global governance are created by the actions and agreements of key actors in the global system" (Meyer, 2010:2).

In terms of procedure GG is considered the process by which states engage in collective action to address common problems arising around a particular issue and involves agenda-setting, negotiations, monitoring, implementation, and enforcement. Its substance identifies with norms, rules, principles, and decision-making procedures that regulate the behaviour of states and other transnational actors in a particular issue area (Betts, 2011).

The 1951 Convention Relating to Refugees is a unique instrument in migration. It however only serves as a guide in the broader field of migration. The absence of comprehensive legislation in international migration law means that it has had to depend on international labour law, general human rights law and bilateral and regional agreements concerning different aspects of migration management, including those related to the governance of readmission, border control and labour migration quotas. Furthermore, there is currently no institution responsible for the management of international migration, resulting in a governance gap. Newland (2010) put forth several policy options for consideration to fill the governance gap in international migration. These include the creation of a  new agency, the designation of a lead agency, incorporating the International Organization for Migration into the UN system, a coordination model, a leadership model, a World Trade Organization model and an “ Evolutionary” model.

The The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) is the result of a strong conviction among states that a new UN agreement on migration, with the support of origin, transit and receiving countries alike, has the potential to fill an important normative vacuum. In the early 2000s, the then United Nations (UN) Secretary-General (UNSG), Kofi Annan, established a working group on migration to explore how the UN could provide leadership and a framework for cooperation among states on migration issues. The resulting Doyle Report of 2002, suggested that further and deeper analysis of the question was urgently needed and proposed a series of options for an international institutional architecture relating to migration similar to those proposed by Newland (2010), namely  the creation of a new agency, designation a lead agency, bringing IOM into the UN, promotion of issues specific to multilateral agreements, and launching a global commission.The UNSG opted to create the Global Commission on International Migration (GCIM), an independent expert commission and it ran from December 2003 to December 2005. It held consultations on areas such as labour migration, circular migration, educational migration, remittances, diaspora engagement, irregular migration, smuggling and trafficking, the human rights of migrants, public discourse on migration, and international cooperation on migration at bilateral, regional, and global levels. It called for greater consultation and cooperation at the regional and global level. The work of the Commission also resulted in  the creation of a series of new structures key among them the establishment of the Global Migration Group to coordinate inter-agency work on migration within the UN system and the appointment of a Special Representative on Migration and Development and the convening of a UN High-Level Dialogue on Migration and Development in 2006, 2013. It was against this background that first High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development, a process of intergovernmental negotiations on all aspects of migration of mutual concern, was held in 2016. The term “compact” represents the arrangement between states on matters of common concern.

The Global Compact for Migration represents a major opportunity to ensure continued state support for international law, clarify the inter-operation between different regimes and to integrate and build on the large corpus of existing standards and

principles developed over the last decades. With only a few years of its implementation undertaken, what the GCM means for the future development of international migration law is still unclear and it will take many more years for this to become evident.  

The fact that the GCM was ratified with 152 votes in favour, five against (Czechia, Hungary, Israel, Poland and the US) and 12 abstentions and not by consensus means it will not be possible for it to achieve universality in the near future. Its implementation therefore will be up to states, and multilateral institutions who have pledged to them. A failure of reciprocity could lead to human rights violations as more powerful states are relieved of the need to explain to their citizens why they are being treated so badly in a third country.

The non-binding character of the compact seems to have been a precondition for broader

state support and the GCM must not come to purport to signal international acceptance of practices which are not compatible with migrant- rights. To be truly global the GCM needs to take the genuine delivery of human rights to migrants wherever they are as its starting point and it must ensure that they have access to justice to defend their rights. Institutions to address shortfalls in migrants' access to rights need to be developed at all levels, national, regional, and multilateral level. While the GCM may not have established and consolidated a rights-related framework in GGIM it is certainly making a significant contribution. Within its short existence the GCM has made some strides in paving the way for states to make greater commitments to migrant rights. When assessed by Papademetriou’s (2008) assertion that changes in the international migration regime must be built from the ground up, starting small, building up and learning by doing; by formalising current practices of working together and engaging new actors in creativeways, the GCM can be said to be on the right track. Current developments within the GCM are commendable and go to support Newland’s (2019) contention that the GCM is not the end of the tunnel but part of the continuing drama in the theatre of the GGIM.

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