Around the world, governments are relying on the relentless work of women through unpaid over-hours and unsafe working shifts to supply the shortage for caregivers in hospitals and at home.

Globally, women make up over 70% per cent of healthcare workers, balancing work and family responsibilities. 'Unpaid care work' is a gendered phenomenon that reflects society's imposed care responsibility on women, the undervalued care services and care economy for its association to female work. This is also happening at hospitals where doctors and nurses are underpaid, work unpaid over-hours and are more prone to depression and stress-related illness than the regular population. However, their physical and psychological health does not receive enough attention even though studies show physician burnout leads to medical malpractice and mistakes in diagnosis and treatment. 

COVID-19 has worsened the cracks in the pervasive global care crisis. Before the pandemic, hospitals were already understaffed, underfunded, and healthcare providers - overworked and overstretched. An aging population and an unprecedented pandemic have resulted in an unmeetable demand for care. 

Healthcare workers are the backbone of our society and economy, it is time to look out for the ones who look out for us. If our carers are not mentally and physically cared after, patients' health are also at risk. 

The objectives of this project are the following:

1.  Raise awareness on the need to improve our healthcare workers´ conditions.

2.  Value women's care work and careers in the care economy.

3.  Make the topic in the public policy agenda and COVID-19 responses visible, to enable our carers to provide better health services for everyone. 

Campaign Tactics: 

1.  Online global campaign and cross-hub collaboration: sharing posts and carers' stories on social media with the support of different hubs around the world under the hashtag #Care4Carers.

2.  Networking and collaborating with medical labour unions and students' associations to increase reach.

3.  Co-creating a petition per country involved to #Care4Carers.