SAINT LUCIA’S DIRECTOR OF GENDER AFFAIRS UNDERSCORED THE USEFULNESS OF A CARE SOCIETY IN POST PANDEMIC RECOVERY.

The fifteenth Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina culminated on Nov. 11, 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 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and other regions were represented including parliamentarians from 15 countries in the region.

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. 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.

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.