ACS calls for building care societies with gender equality at the XVI Regional Conference on Women

Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago – August 18, 2025.

The Association of Caribbean States (ACS) actively participated in the XVI Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Mexico City from August 12 to 15, 2025, organized by ECLAC, the main United Nations intergovernmental forum in the region on women’s rights and gender equality.

During the High-Level Authorities Dialogue on the care society: governance, political economy and social dialogue for a transformation with gender equality, the Secretary-General of the ACS, Ambassador Noemí Espinoza Madrid, stressed that “care is a public good and a key factor for sustainable development; recognizing and redistributing it strengthens the resilience of our societies and contributes to gender equality.”

The Secretary-General called for building care societies with an intersectional approach that guarantees the right to care and to be cared for. To achieve this, she outlined three essential conditions:

Align policies with international standards on decent work to dignify and professionalize the care economy.
Invest in resilient and quality care systems and services, incorporating the climate dimension and ensuring fair access for Small Island Developing States.
Strengthen comprehensive social protection, with priority attention to Afro-descendant women who face additional barriers due to racism and the disproportionate burden of care work.

Within the framework of the Conference, the Secretary-General also participated in the side event “To Lead and to Care: Towards a Care Economy that is Fair to Women and Mother Earth”, organized by GWL Voices. On this occasion, she reaffirmed that all people, including women, have the right to care, and urged for stronger intersectoral work to eliminate machismo, racism, and classism, in order to achieve a just and sustainable transformation.

The ACS agenda in Mexico City included strategic bilateral meetings, notably with the Undersecretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, Raquel Serurel, and with Ms. Alejandra del Moral, Executive Director of AMEXCID. Both meetings highlighted the importance of Mexico’s technical cooperation to scale up regional projects on key issues such as sargassum management and disaster risk reduction, consolidating Mexico’s role as a key ally for the Greater Caribbean.

In addition, the Secretary-General held a dialogue with Sandra Castañeda, General Coordinator of the Latin American and Caribbean Women’s Health Network, underlining the relevance of generating synergies with social organizations to better respond to the realities of the people of the Greater Caribbean.

The ACS’ participation in this Conference reaffirms the Association’s commitment to work towards making substantive equality for women a reality in the Greater Caribbean. For this, it is essential to recognize, redistribute, and remunerate care work, which currently falls disproportionately on women. Only then will we be on the path toward building more just, inclusive, and sustainable societies in our region.