The Sixteenth Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean will take place from August 12 to 15, 2025, at the Tlatelolco University Cultural Center in Mexico City. This event is organized by ECLAC in coordination with UN Women, and it represents the main United Nations intergovernmental forum on women’s rights and gender equality in the region.

Under the theme “Transformations in the political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental spheres to promote the care society and gender equality,” the conference aims to address the challenges facing Latin America and the Caribbean in the context of a care crisis, marked by deep structural inequalities and phenomena such as population aging, climate change, and migration movements.

As part of this conference, UNDP will co-organize five side events:

1. Title: “From Data to Policy: Toward a Transformative Digital Public Infrastructure”

• Co-organizing entities: ECLAC, INEGI, Mexico’s Secretariat for Women, Dominican Republic
• Date: August 11
• Time: 11:30 to 13:00 p.m.
• Location: José María Morelos y Pavón Room, Section 3, 1st Floor, Secretariat of Foreign Affairs Description: The event “From Data to Policy: Toward a Transformative Digital Public Infrastructure” will bring together national and subnational authorities, as well as multilateral organizations, to analyze how statistical systems, information management, and digital transformation are key allies in building fairer, more inclusive, and sustainable care systems. Tools such as specialized surveys, territorial data collection for public policy implementation, care maps, interoperable platforms, and data governance mechanisms will be discussed, along with their impact on the design, implementation, and evaluation of public policies. The event aims to contribute to the consolidation of innovative national information systems with a gender and care perspective, strengthening decision-making and promoting an agenda focused on substantive equality, redistribution of time and resources, and the guarantee of rights for caregivers and those in need of care.

2. Title: “Care and Support Systems: Human Rights Standards, Gender Equality, and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”

• Co-organizing entities: OHCHR, UN Women, UNICEF, UNFPA, and the governments of Argentina, Canada, Chile, Uruguay, Colombia, and Panama
• Date: August 11
• Time: 1:15 to 2:45 p.m.
• Location: José María Morelos y Pavón Room, Secretariat of Foreign Affairs
• Description: Advancing toward care and support systems based on human rights requires establishing a new social pact among states, the private sector, communities, and families. This transformation promotes gender equity, collective well-being, and recognition of diverse life paths, and is key to achieving sustainable and inclusive development that leaves no one behind. The event seeks to promote care and support systems that are comprehensive, inclusive, and rights-based, incorporating gender, disability, childhood, and life-course approaches. It will showcase progress and lessons learned from the Joint Programme and highlight innovations promoted by key actors in regional and international development.

3. Title: “Depatriarchalizing the State for the Sustainability of Life: Placing Care at the Center of Public Policies, Toward Fulfilling the Buenos Aires Commitment”

• Co-organizing entities: Plurinational State of Bolivia — through the Plurinational Service for Women and Depatriarchalization “Ana María Romero” — and the Government of Chile — through the Ministry of Women and Gender Equity — in strategic alliance with UNDP–LAC, UN Women LAC, UNICEF, the Global Alliance for Care, and the Trenzando Cuidados Network
• Date: August 12
• Time: 3:00 to 4:30 p.m.
• Location: José María Morelos y Pavón Room, Section 2, 1st Floor, Secretariat of Foreign Affairs
• Description: This side event aims to open a space for dialogue to highlight experiences and lessons learned in building comprehensive care systems from a depatriarchalizing, feminist, intersectional, and intercultural perspective, as a way to transform power structures that perpetuate gender inequalities. It is co-organized by Bolivia and Chile, in alliance with UNDP–LAC, UN Women LAC, UNICEF, the Global Alliance for Care, and the Trenzando Cuidados Network.

4. Title: “Climate Change and Care: Toward a Green and Just Transition in Latin America and the Caribbean”

• Co-organizing entities: Government of Germany, FIAP, ECLAC, ILO, UN Women
• Date: August 12
• Time: 5:00 to 6:30 p.m.
• Lugar: Benito Juárez Room, 1st floor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Description: The urgency of regional dialogue and integrated recommendations stems from the deep interconnection between the climate crisis and the social organization of care. UNDP and UNEP, along with UN agencies, governments, and civil society organizations, have developed a strong track record in implementing policies that simultaneously address climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution within the context of unequal care structures. This event will bring together representatives from governments, international organizations, and civil society to discuss the links between the climate crisis and care systems. Key findings from the regional study on just energy transition and green employability with a gender perspective will be presented, along with national experiences from Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Mexico.

5. Title: “Time and Rights for Women and Persons with Disabilities: Care and Support Systems in Latin America and the Caribbean”

•         Co-organizing entities: OHCHR, ILO, Panama, and the Global Alliance for Care

•         Date: August 13

•         Time: 10:45 to 11:45 a.m.

•         Location: Nezahualcóyotl Center for Intercultural Studies (CEIN) C. Nezahualcóyotl 29, Col. Centro, Centro, Cuauhtémoc, 06080 Centro, Mexico City

•         Description: Establishing care societies in Latin America and the Caribbean means prioritizing the lives of individuals, communities, and ecosystems. To achieve this, all social actors must coordinate efforts to provide services, develop policies, regulate fiscal and public investment frameworks with a gender perspective, and finance infrastructure and technology so that everyone has access to care, can care for others, and practice self-care. This side event aims to highlight the principle of interdependence in care and support, recognizing that most people, at some point and often simultaneously, both require and provide care. It emphasizes the importance of designing public policies from a comprehensive and intersectional approach that acknowledges this reality and moves beyond isolated group-specific policy frameworks.

Additionally, a publication will be launched presenting the systematized experiences of implementing the Care Georeferencing Tool in eight countries in the region. This tool stands out for its contributions in identifying “care deserts”—areas where the demand for services is high but the supply is inaccessible—as well as for strengthening the digital public infrastructure of States.

During the Regional Conference, the document “Guidelines for Care Policies from a Gender, Territorial, and Intersectional Perspective” (already available online) will also be launched. This document, developed by ECLAC, UN Women, UNDP, and ILO, outlines the main guidelines for designing and implementing care policies in different territories. It describes how and to what extent care policies are implemented in politically, socially, economically, and culturally diverse territories in the region, and addresses the challenges of implementing these policies.

A kind reminder that access to these events requires accreditation for the Sixteenth Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

To read the position paper of the XVI Regional Conference, as well as the side events program and other relevant information here: https://conferenciamujer.cepal.org/16/en 

We encourage you to join the online conversation via @PNUDLAC using the hashtag #SociedadDelCuidado.