From August 12 to 15, 2025, Mexico City will host the XVI Regional Conference on Women for Latin America and the Caribbean, focusing on the transformations required to address the unequal burden of care work that disproportionately falls on women. The conference takes place 50 years after Mexico hosted the First World Conference on Women, marking a moment of both reflection and renewed action. Amid growing global polarization around feminist progress, the region’s leadership in recognizing care as a public good and human right stands out as a beacon of progress.
IDRC (International Development Research Centre) is contributing to the conference by bringing evidence, innovation, and policy recommendations that support the creation of a care society and advance gender equality. The recognition of care work is positioned not only as a gender issue but as essential to democratic renewal, economic resilience, and climate justice. Latin America and the Caribbean’s experience in feminist policymaking and care systems offers valuable lessons for inclusive and transformative global development.
To deepen its impact, IDRC is supporting four official side events during the conference, reflecting its commitment to feminist research, strategic partnerships, and long-term investment in care as a core pathway to sustainable development. These events aim to highlight practical strategies and policy pathways to integrate care more deeply into public life and governance.
IDRC is also co-sponsoring the Care Pavilion at the event, in partnership with the Global Alliance for Care. This dedicated space will host workshops and dialogues to explore how care systems can be strengthened and how public institutions can better support caregivers and families. These sessions serve as platforms to co-create ideas, engage with stakeholders, and shape future care policies.
In preparation for the conference, IDRC supported regional research and dialogue throughout 2024 and early 2025. Collaborating with the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), UN Women, and other global partners, IDRC backed the Latin America and the Caribbean Academic Care Forums. These forums informed the official policy document to be presented at the conference on August 13.
Academic representatives and IDRC partners will also present their insights during the Stakeholder Contributions session later that same day, offering perspectives rooted in research and lived experience. Through its sustained investment in research, partnerships, and policy engagement, IDRC continues to champion care work as a public good, a human right, and a foundation for achieving inclusive and equitable development across the region.
