Description:

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerabilities of informal labour, and especially to the parts of the global economy that relate to paid care work and unpaid care work provided by women as part of human survival, welfare and the labour force. Like other regions, across Latin America, women are contributing to the care economy, often without social protections, contracts, access to health services or other supports. Many provide domestic services, work in the informal sector, or make a living as waste pickers and recyclers. Within the context of COVID-19, researchers in the region are examining the health and work conditions of women in the care economy, offering evidence to inform policymaking and recommending solutions for a more equitable future. As part of the Women RISE research program, the three research projects highlighted in this panel delved into the systemic challenges faced by informally employed women and how women's health and their work (paid or unpaid) intersect and interact in the context of preparing for, responding to and recovering from COVID-19. The projects demonstrated that in working in collaboration with sex workers in Argentina, domestic workers in Peru and the recyclers in Ecuador, respectively, there was an added richness and better contextualization of the research design, methodology and results. This yielded outcomes that benefitted the research participants in the short term with better attention to their health and labour conditions, as well as for the long term, through the institutionalization and formalization of their labour and recognition of their rights. The aim of this session is to discuss the approaches and opportunities in co-creating research with care workers as the primary beneficiaries, and to improving access to health services and policy implementation. These projects were funded under the Women RISE initiative with support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

To learn about the approaches and opportunities in co-creating research with workers in the care economy as the primary beneficiaries in Argentina, Ecuador and Peru To learn about the experiences, achievements and policy challenges integrating research beneficiaries' perspectives knowledge, people-centeredness, local leadership and diplomacy into health research

1. Discussing results from the ANITA project, which addressed the challenges and constraints of social protection policies for Peruvian women domestic workers, and examined women domestic workers' working conditions and access to health care in three areas: Lima, La Libertad and Piura. The researchers surveyed 456 women domestic workers, interviewed 55 stakeholders, and held two deliberative dialogues with domestic workers, government officials and domestic worker associations. The results offer important insights, yielded recommendations and built effective pathways to improve social protection policies for women domestic workers.

2. Identifying changes studied by researchers at the Universidad de Cuenca and McMaster University regarding women recyclers and waste pickers' labour practices and the interventions that improved their occupational health conditions. The researchers actively involved the women at three stages of the project: Diagnosis: The women responded to surveys and allowed anthropologists to accompany them during their work. Analysis: The women actively participated in the development of solutions, helped set priorities and proposed actions according to the priorities. Intervention: The women attended the activities, participated in events and led the ordinance processes.

3. Discussing the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) of female sex workers in the post-COVID era in Argentina to understand the female sex workers (FSW) need for and access to SRH care and services and income protection policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the perspective of the community, health workers and decision makers. The research team also estimated coverage and financing gaps of income protection policies, and the factors that could explain these gaps.

Diverse approaches and opportunities in research co-creation, in a different number of contexts across Latin America, promote greater recognition and uptake of research participants' knowledge in health systems research. Research co-creation with care economy worker populations can improve policy implementation and access to health services and rights.