The document begins by analysing international human rights instruments and references to care issues at the constitutional level in the countries of the region. National regulatory frameworks are then examined, along with laws on comprehensive care systems; maternity, paternity and parental leave; breastfeeding protection laws; and the regulation of care services. Data for the analysis are taken from the Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean,1 a repository of laws and regulations on care. This repository provides official information from member States of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and facilitates the monitoring of international agreements on women’s rights.

This working paper provides a framework for women’s economic empowerment, which draws on lessons learned, key strategic documents, and expertise generated by the implementation of the MELYT Programme focusing on women, the local economy, and dynamic territories in the Trifinio area2 of Central America

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, shrinking working hours, increased care burdens, and heightened violence have exacerbated the challenges that women and girls face. Unless action is taken, by 2021 around 435 million women and girls will be living in extreme poverty, including 47 million pushed into poverty as a result of COVID-19. This publication presents the latest evidence on the multiple impacts of the pandemic on women and girls.

The links between biodiversity, climate change and gender are real and undeniable. In many places in Latin America and the Caribbean, the livelihoods of women and girls depend, in large part, on natural resources. They have a relationship with nature that is different from men’s, where we can observe different roles, knowledge, dependencies and contributions to conservation and sustainable management.

The Policy Brief "Domestic Workers in Latin America and the Caribbean during the COVID-19 Crisis", prepared jointly by UN Women, ILO and ECLAC, illustrates the situation of special vulnerability faced by domestic workers in Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighting the impacts of the current crisis caused by COVID-19. It also describes the measures promoted by social actors and institutions in the countries of the region and makes visible how much can still be done to guarantee the labor rights of domestic workers.

The objective of the Action Model is to ensure that UN Women, as an expert agency on gender equality and women's empowerment, offers appropriate programmatic options for the purpose of generating transformative changes for women and girls in the region, within the framework of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

In order to make progress in achieving significant equality in the country, it is necessary to analyze the conditions in which discrimination and gender gaps occur. Through this scenario, UN Women, in partnership with the Government of Colombia through the DANE, developed the flagship report "The Progress of women in Colombia 2018: transforming the economy to guarantee rights", a study that contributes to promoting accurate information that allows for the analysis and implementation of concrete actions so that the country fulfills its commitments to the Sustainable Development Agenda for the Year 2030.

In recent years, we have advanced progressively in the development of a conceptual and methodological basis for improving the processes of programme and project evaluation. This Guide has been elaborated with the intent of integrating gender equality, human rights and interculturality approaches into the UN Women evaluation cycle. It is a practical tool for those who undertake, manage and/or use evaluations.