Thirty years after the Beijing Platform for Action and the Belém do Pará Convention, Equality Now and other feminist organisations from Latin America and the Caribbean have issued this joint statement prior to the XVI Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean. The declaration urges LAC governments to uphold the right to care by guaranteeing legal equality, economic justice, and freedom from all forms of violence. It includes public policy proposals, legal reform demands, and feminist priorities for advocacy.

What’s inside the brief?

Diagnosis of structural gender inequality in LAC
Country-level examples of discriminatory laws and practices
Data on unpaid care work, access to land, pensions, and economic exclusion
Policy and legislative recommendations grounded in feminist, intersectional analysis
A collective civil society call for accountability to international commitments

Who’s it for?

Government delegates attending the XVI Regional Conference on Women
UN agencies and multilateral organisations working in LAC
Lawmakers, public officials, and gender policy stakeholders
Feminist activists, regional networks, and civil society organisations
Journalists and media covering women’s rights in Latin America and the Caribbean

Key recommendations and takeaways

Recognise care as a human right linked to the eradication of gender-based violence.
Reform family, inheritance, and property laws that subordinate women.
Guarantee equal access to land, productive resources, financial services, and social protection.
Address the role of girls and adolescents as caregivers and protect their rights.
Ensure the right to care includes reproductive autonomy and freedom from coercion.
Promote women’s leadership in designing and implementing care systems rooted in territorial, feminist, and rights-based approaches.

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4 March 2025

43 pages

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What’s inside the brief?

Who’s it for?

Key recommendations and takeaways

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Explore more resources

Words & Deeds: Holding governments accountable in the Beijing+30 review process

Legislating on sexual violence with a consent-based approach in Latin America and the Caribbean

Legislative action to prohibit child marriage in Bolivia

Beijing +30: Call to LAC States to build a true care society with equality and free from violence

What’s inside the brief?

Who’s it for?

Key recommendations and takeaways

About

Languages

Classification

More information

Explore more resources

Words & Deeds: Holding governments accountable in the Beijing+30 review process

Legislating on sexual violence with a consent-based approach in Latin America and the Caribbean

Legislative action to prohibit child marriage in Bolivia

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