Amid the care crisis, generated by the unequal distribution of domestic and care work between men and women and the care deficit faced by countries - caused by changes in culture and women's roles, the integration of women into the workforce, the increase in female-headed households, the demographic transition and economic crises that no longer allow households to support themselves on a single income - these policies are essential to achieve gender equality and women's empowerment and financial autonomy. 

Accordingly, UN Women is firmly committed to building comprehensive care systems that recognize care as a fundamental pillar of social protection, along with the pillars of health, education, and social security, and guarantee the right to live a fulfilling life, both for the person who receives care as well as for the person who provides it. 

Furthermore, investing in these systems generates social and economic benefits since they contribute to people's well-being, allow the direct and indirect creation of quality employment, facilitate the participation of women in the workforce, and improve household income. This translates into a return of income for the State, economic income via taxes and contributions, and a higher income for households. 

Our Solutions

UN Women offers technical assistance to support Latin American and Caribbean countries in their efforts to develop and implement comprehensive care policies and systems through different actions, among them:

• Preparation of roadmaps for the development of the national care system.

• Developing studies on the supply and demand of care services. 

• Application of costing methodology and projection of economic impacts of the implementation of care services -studying their effects on GDP, employment, and tax revenues.

• Design of pilot programs for care services at the local level. 

• Review and development of recommendations for existing national and/or local care policy instruments. 

• Technical advisory for the elaboration of national and subnational care laws. 

• Generation of inputs for discussion and decision-making processes on financing the care policy or system. 

• Participation in training sessions for installing and appropriating the notion of care and the integral care system. 

• The design of programs aimed at promoting a broader supply of services and generating decent work for women. 

It also conducts research, studies, and knowledge products with public policy recommendations to promote the recognition, reduction, and redistribution of care work disproportionately carried out by women and progress towards comprehensive care systems. In addition, UN Women also promotes cultural and behavioral changes in societies to achieve gender equality, networks with other international organizations, and is part of the Global Alliance for Care, an international space for co-creation, cooperation, and collaboration that seeks to mobilize care agendas worldwide. 

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