At the XVI Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) highlighted the role of innovation, data, and territorial approaches in building transformative, inclusive, and sustainable care policies.

AUGUST 21, 2025

Mexico City, August 21, 2025 — Under the theme “Transformations in the political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental spheres to advance the care society and gender equality,” the Sixteenth Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean (RCM) concluded last Friday, after being held from August 11 to 15 in Mexico City. The RCW, the main intergovernmental forum of the United Nations on women’s rights and gender equality in the region, brought together government representatives, international organizations, civil society, and academia to analyze the regional and subregional situation regarding women’s autonomy and rights. From now on, the official name of this forum will be the Regional Conference on Women of Latin America and the Caribbean, recognizing women in all their diversity.

UNDP celebrates the adoption of the Tlatelolco Commitment by the governments of the region at the conclusion of the RCW. This Commitment becomes part of the Regional Gender Agenda, which for the past 48 years has served as a guiding framework for public policies on gender equality. It consolidates the care society as a horizon for advancing true sustainable development, recognizes care as a human right, and calls on the United Nations System to support States in implementing transformative public care policies.

UNDP is specifically mentioned in paragraphs 59, 61, and 64 of the Tlatelolco Commitment, underscoring our essential role in promoting gender equality and women’s rights. Additionally, paragraph 48 calls for continued progress in the georeferencing of care supply and demand across territories.

UNDP actively participated in all spaces of this regional forum, and through the intervention of Silvia Morimoto, UNDP Mexico Resident Representative, reaffirmed its commitment to the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean to advance inclusive democratic governance, resilience, and a care society as pillars of sustainable development and prosperity.

In line with the above, UNDP, together with ECLAC, UN Women, and ILO, presented the document “Guidelines for Care Policies from a Gender, Territorial, and Intersectional Perspective,” which offers concrete guidance for implementing care policies with a territorial lens in the region.

As part of the five side events organized by UNDP in collaboration with various governments, UN agencies, and strategic partners, it was emphasized that advancing toward a care society requires understanding the deep interconnection between people, climate, and nature. Women and caregiving communities are disproportionately affected by the impacts of the triple planetary crisis—climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Therefore, UNDP works with key stakeholders to promote a green and just transition, integrating gender equality and care as central conditions for climate resilience.

Likewise, Guillermina Martín, UNDP Regional Gender Team Leader, stated that designing effective care policies requires public digital infrastructure capable of collecting, processing, and sharing real-time data on the supply, demand, quality, and accessibility of care services. In particular, UNDP has developed tools such as georeferenced care maps, implemented in eight countries across the region, which help identify care deserts and guide territorial planning. During the CRM, the policy brief “Care Cartographies in Latin America and the Caribbean” was presented, which systematizes experiences in building these care maps throughout the region.

Finally, it was underscored that care and support systems are essential to guarantee rights, promote autonomy, and enable the full participation of all persons in economic, social, and political life, especially women with disabilities in all their diversity. Inclusion can no longer be a footnote: it must be at the heart of all public policies to ensure that no one is left behind.