SAINT LUCIA AGREES TO CREATION OF A CARE SOCIETY, GENDER EQUALITY FOLLOWING FOUR-DAY CONFERENCE.

The fifteenth Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean held in Buenos Aires, Argentina culminated on Friday, November 11, 2022 with a Buenos Aires Declaration that urges Governments of the region to adopt national regulatory frameworks that ensure the right to care through the implementation of comprehensive care policies and systems from a gender, intersectional, intercultural and human rights perspective.

The four-day Conference was organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in collaboration with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), under the theme: “The care society: a horizon for sustainable recovery with gender equality.”

Thirty (30) countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and other regions were represented including parliamentarians from 15 countries in the region; 17 United Nations agencies; 14 inter-governmental organizations, and more than 750 members of civil society participated in the conference. A total of 1,168 people participated in the event.

Saint Lucia’s Minister with responsibility for Gender Affairs, Dr. Virginia Albert-Poyotte was represented by the Director of Gender Affairs, Ms. Janey Joseph, who also served as a panelist on the “High-Level Dialogue on the Care Society in Latin America and the Caribbean” on Wednesday, November 9, 2022. She underscored the usefulness of a care society in recovery from the pandemic and stressed the plight of small island developing states who are classed as middle income to high income countries, barring their ability to access certain types of funding critical for providing basic services to their citizens.

Reporting on Saint Lucia’s participation in the Conference, Ms. Janey Joseph asserts that: “The outcome of this regional conference can cause a paradigm shift in national development planning and promote the recognition, reduction and redistribution of unpaid domestic and care work and create a more enabling environment for full participation of all members of the society in national sustainable development.” The Department of Gender Affairs under the guidance of the Minister of the Public Service, Home Affairs, Labour and Gender Affairs, Hon. Dr. Virginia Albert-Poyotte will, coordinate the advocacy for and implementation of the proposed care society.