Weaving communities that care: women, territories, and public policies in Colombia
Date:
Photo: Courtesy of RedMucho
In recent years, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have made progress in recognizing unpaid, domestic, and care work. This is evidenced by the effort to have Time Use Surveys and the incorporation of satellite accounts that make it possible to measure unpaid work within the framework of national accounts in the countries of the region.
Colombia has made significant progress over the past decade in issuing regulations and formulating and implementing public policies related to care at both national and territorial levels. The consolidation of a National Care System in the country is part of the National Development Plan (PND 2022-2026) as a sign of the state’s commitment to closing the gaps and guaranteeing the protection of life.
According to figures from the National Statistics Department (DANE), 32.2 million people in Colombia perform unpaid care work activities. Of these, 19.5 million are women, representing 90.3% of women over 10 years of age, compared to 12.7 million men, corresponding to 63.0% of men of the same age. At the national level, women spend an average of 7 hours and 44 minutes a day on unpaid care work, compared to 3 hours and 6 minutes spent by men. Women in rural areas dedicate an average of 8 hours and 33 minutes daily to unpaid care, and men, 3 hours and 6 minutes; while, in urban areas, such figures correspond to 7 hours and 31 minutes in the case of women, and 3 hours and 7 minutes in the case of men (DANE, 2021).
Photo: Courtesy of RedMucho
National Care Policy: an intersectoral commitment to dignity and co-responsibility
In February 2025, the National Care Policy was approved, with an action plan of 25 billion pesos to be implemented over 10 years, aiming to balance the overload in care work and recognize the role of community care in rebuilding the country’s social fabric.
The Director of Care of the Ministry of Equality and Equity, Natalia Moreno Salamanca, pointed out that the formulation and approval of the National Care Policy marks a before and after in the recognition of care as a right, through which the Government settles a historical debt.
“We have managed to establish a clear regulatory and conceptual framework and define an intersectoral action plan in which 35 national entities are committed to implementing 133 actions to consolidate a care-giving society, guaranteeing the right to care and to be cared for in dignified conditions. This was possible thanks to 180 technical roundtables and a citizen participation route that involved more than 1,200 people in 21 population meetings and six regional meetings,” said Moreno Salamanca.
For Colombia, quantifying the value of unpaid care work has been a fundamental step towards making visible and recognizing a historically invisible work, which sustains life and the economy, and which has fallen disproportionately on women. Moreno Salamanca indicates that “this effort positions Colombia as a pioneer in the region in integrating unpaid work into official economic measurement systems through the creation of a Care Economy Satellite Account within the System of National Accounts”.
Through the National Time Use Survey (NTUS), it has been possible to rigorously estimate the amount of time people devote to unpaid domestic and care work and assign an economic value to it. “The results are compelling: this work represents about 20% of the expanded GDP. In other words, if it were paid, it would be one of the most important sectors of the national economy,” says Moreno Salamanca.
The official points out that “measuring it has been key to transforming the symbolic into the political: it has allowed us to stop seeing care as a private and individual responsibility, and to begin to recognize it as a right and as a job that requires decent conditions for its sustainability”.
Photo: Courtesy of RedMucho
Transformation from the local level
A central element of the National Care System is community care, which has been rendered invisible despite being an essential practice for sustaining life in the territories.”
Moreno Salamanca states: “From the National Care Policy, we have committed to making this collective dimension of care visible and integrated, which is based on the principle of interdependence. This approach understands care as an ethical and political practice to sustain life in all its expressions, not just human life.” She acknowledges that the institutional challenge is enormous, as “it means not only recognizing these community actors, but also strengthening them to improve the conditions in which they provide care. This includes technical support, provision of resources, and exchanges of experiences.”
One of the experiences where the ethnic-territorial and gender approach contributes to transforming inequalities is led by the Departmental Network of Chocoan Women (REDMUCHO). Comprising 55 women’s organizations, since its founding in 1992, it has aimed to promote Chocoan women and their organizations in building equitable relationships between men and women. Through this, it seeks to contribute to sustainable social development and strives for both individual and collective transformation through training, capacity-building, and advocacy mechanisms.
This network is one of UN Women’s strategic partners and a beneficiary, through a competitive fund, of the project “Care-centered Environments,” funded by the Government of Canada. In its recent work with six organizations (five women-led and one mixed), it has made systematic progress through workshops and follow-up on implementing learned practices to establish norms aimed at redistributing, reducing, and recognizing the value of care work at all levels.
For the members of REDMUCHO, in a society where mutual interest and care exist, development, harmony, and collective growth flourish. They believe that recognizing the value of care work means acknowledging rights and taking responsibility for their duties. Only in this way can more just, equitable, and supportive communities be built.
About the “Care-centered Environments” Project
The “Caring Environments” project is an initiative of the Government of Canada in partnership with UN Women. It aims to improve the socioeconomic well-being of women and girls in all their diversity in Colombia by developing innovative and concrete solutions to address the unequal distribution of care work in the country. This is achieved through: strengthening the National Care System; providing direct support in the development of territorial care systems; empowering civil society and organizations of women and caregivers; promoting cultural change in beliefs and behaviors, with an emphasis on co-responsible masculinities; and Fostering public-private co-responsibility and multi-stakeholder partnerships.