Inter-American Model Law on Care

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM/OAS) and the European Union (EU), through the Gender Equality area of ​​the EUROsociAL+ program, have articulated a process of work to strengthen the public policies of the States on the rights and economic autonomy of women. In this route, of incidence to position new gender pacts, we started from the analysis of the legal and normative framework on the economic rights of women, with the purpose of, on the one hand, to formulate and support the implementation of practical recommendations and, on the other hand, to identify standards for the creation of normative and legal tools that support the full exercise of the economic rights of the women and their empowerment and autonomy, with power to transform the lives of women in the Region. As a result of this dynamic, the Inter-American Model Law on Care arises, which includes key elements of international instruments and is based on existing standards in terms of rights, non-discrimination and equality between men and women. Its purpose is to recognize, redistribute, regulate, promote and generate new forms of attention to unpaid care and domestic work, as well as to make visible and recognize the historical contribution of women in this matter. Through this Model Law, we offer a concrete tool to the States to strengthen economic autonomy and enhance the contribution and human talent of women in the productive world and towards sustainable economic growth. This work is framed within the mandates of the Assembly of Delegates of the CIM, which has declared the importance of making visible the economic and social value of unpaid work in the home, particularly care work, and of promoting that laws and public policies incorporate the social co-responsibility of care to create the necessary conditions so that women can participate and remain in the labor market under equal conditions and fully enjoy their rights.