Countries of the region committed to moving towards a new style of development: the care society

Representatives of the countries participating in the XV Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbeanwhich concluded today in Argentina, pledged to “adopt regulatory frameworks that guarantee the right to care through the implementation of comprehensive care policies and systems from the perspectives of gender, intersectionality, interculturality, and human rights.”

The Buenos Aires Commitment recognizes “care as a right of people to care, to be cared for and to exercise self-care based on the principles of equality, universality and social and gender co-responsibility and, therefore, as a responsibility that must be shared by people from all sectors of society, families, communities, companies and the State”.

The United Nations’ main regional intergovernmental forum on women’s rights and gender equality, which this year celebrates its 45th anniversary, opened on Monday in the Argentine capital and brought together delegates from 30 Latin American countries. and the Caribbean and other regions, as well as representatives of 17 United Nations agencies and 14 intergovernmental organizations. They were joined by parliamentarians from 15 countries in the region and more than 750 members of civil society. In total 1,168 participants.

The closing session was attended by Raúl García-Buchaca, Deputy Executive Secretary for Program Administration and Analysis of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); María-Noel Vaeza, Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean of UN Women; Ayelén Mazzina, Minister of Women, Gender and Diversity of Argentina; and Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations (via video).

“We welcome the great political commitment agreed in Buenos Aires, which will allow us to advance in concrete policies to make the rights and autonomy of women a reality, throughout the region and in all its territories, and which also allows us to continue strengthening the Regional Agenda. of Gender, as we have been doing for 45 years. From the conviction to renew our reflections from the cascading crises that challenge us, ECLAC proposes to continue with the feminist efforts for transformation and a profound civilizing change: the care society”, said Raúl García-Buchaca, Deputy Executive Secretary of ECLAC, who emphasized that “financing care policies is essential to reverse gender inequalities and guarantee the rights of all women.”

“It is during crises that we have to dare to dream. This meeting in Buenos Aires has meant an unprecedented boost to a new development model that we are promoting from feminist and women’s organizations, international organizations and parliaments: the care society. We trust that the States and the private sector will continue to join this great effort to correct historical inequalities, help take care of the planet and, finally, increase opportunities for all of society, and especially women in all their diversity, women indigenous, rural, Afro-descendants, with disabilities, girls, adolescents and older adults, migrants and refugees, from the collective of diversity and living with HIV”, said María-Noel Vaeza of UN Women.

Minister Mazzina, for her part, pointed out that “as an Argentine and a feminist, I am proud that the Buenos Aires Commitment joins the Regional Gender Agenda. We have come to this day with a huge journey across the country, with the conviction of collectively building a common position that represents all voices. We did it thanks to the cooperation of each and all of you, who nourished each of the debates that led to these agreements with diversity”.

“From Argentina we assume with responsibility and joy the role that falls to us in exercising this presidency. We have three years ahead of us in which we will work to build a future of equality, with sustainable development and social justice,” he remarked.

Finally, Amina J. Mohammed highlighted the contribution of the Regional Gender Agenda and stressed that “the unequal distribution of care work, the absence of care services and the lack of recognition of the social value of domestic work directly undermine gender equality ”. In this sense, she called on the countries of the region to “develop comprehensive care systems and redistribute time, power and resources” to achieve true gender equality, which requires adequate financing.

The delegates of the countries present in Argentina recognized the work carried out by the Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean and appreciated the preparation of the position paper of the Conference, The care society: horizon for a sustainable recovery with gender equalityas well as the publication Breaking the statistical silence to achieve gender equality in 2030: application of the axis on information systems of the Montevideo Strategy for the Implementation of the Regional Gender Agenda in the Sustainable Development Framework towards 2030both prepared by ECLAC.

During the meeting the document was also presented Financing of care systems and policies in Latin America and the Caribbean: contributions for a sustainable recovery with gender equalityprepared by ECLAC and UN Women.

In the Buenos Aires Commitment, the countries agreed to “design, implement and evaluate macroeconomic policies, and especially fiscal policies (income, expenditure and investment), from a gender equality and human rights perspective, safeguarding the progress achieved and mobilizing the maximum resources available with a view to increasing sustainable public investment over time in care policies and infrastructures, in order to guarantee universal access to affordable and quality care services”.

In the same way, the representatives pledged “that the fiscal adjustment measures or budget cuts aimed at dealing with situations of economic slowdown be in accordance with the principles of human rights and non-discrimination, especially avoiding cuts in programs and supports that can generate an increase in the levels of poverty and overload of unpaid work and care that affect women”.

The resolution also encourages the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean and other regions, developed countries, United Nations agencies, funds and programs and other relevant actors to contribute financial resources for the sustainability of the Fund. Regional Support for Women’s and Feminist Organizations and Movements.

Finally, the countries thanked the people and the government of Argentina for hosting the XV Regional Conference and the offer of the Government of Mexico to host the next Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2025.

The Program of the XV Regional Conference on Women included the launch of various documents with policy recommendations, a high-level debate on the care society, thematic panels on care financing and caring for the planet and a round table on co-responsibility for care, as well as 30 side events, a Parliamentary Forum and a Feminist Forum .