At the sixteenth session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Mexico from 12 to 15 August 2026, the member States of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean participating in the meeting adopted by consensus the Tlatelolco Commitment, which establishes a decade of action 2025–2035 in the region to accelerate the achievement of substantive gender equality and the care society through political, economic, social, cultural and environmental transformations.

In the agreement, countries recognize that the care society proposal that Latin America and the Caribbean is contributing to the world is a new paradigm for sustainable development, equality and peace, which prioritizes the sustainability of life and the care of people and the planet. They also commit to promoting measures to overcome the sexual division of labor and to move towards a fair social organization of care, in the framework of a new development model that fosters gender equality in the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. 

Through regional commitments such as the Tlatelolco Commitment, and the promotion of comprehensive care systems, Latin America and the Caribbean has played a key role in making visible the unfair social organization of care as a structural factor of inequality, fostering the recognition of care as a public good and a right. This leadership has extended to the global level through initiatives such as the biregional compact for care between Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union, which strengthens cooperation between regions. In addition, the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) agreed to include care as a priority theme for its 2028 session, highlighting the importance of care for the achievement of gender equality.

The Tlatelolco Commitment also establishes agreements in three areas that are synergistic with the targets on means of implementation set out in SDG 17. These areas are: (a) Normative framework, institutional architecture, participation and strengthening of State capacities; (b) financing and cooperation; and (c) Information systems, communication, technology, monitoring, evaluation and accountability. In each of these areas, the Commitment sets out specific agreements to advance the achievement of substantive gender equality and the care society.

Furthermore, SDG 17 seeks to strengthen the global partnerships necessary to implement the 2030 Agenda, recognizing that no country, institution or community can address global challenges such as climate change, poverty, inequality or technological transformation on its own. Accordingly, it establishes specific targets on financing, technology, capacity-building, trade, and systemic issues such as policy and institutional coherence, multi-stakeholder partnerships, data, monitoring and accountability.

Therefore, both the Tlatelolco Commitment and SDG 17 of the 2030 Agenda place emphasis on the means of implementation required to drive the transformations needed to accelerate progress towards equality and sustainable development. In particular, both instruments promote the mobilization of domestic and international resources and the strengthening of regional and international cooperation as central elements. In the Tlatelolco Commitment, Governments agreed to “increase financing significantly to address gender inequalities in the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development strategies and policies and implement follow-up mechanisms with a gender perspective in Latin America and the Caribbean;” (ECLAC, 2025, paragraph 33).

For its part, the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development is the regional mechanism to follow up and review the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Sustainable Development Goals and targets, and their means of implementation. At the ninth meeting of the Forum, to be held from Monday, 13 April to Thursday, 16 April 2026, progress, challenges, and partnerships will be reported regarding the achievement of SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation, SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy, SDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure, and SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals. Additionally, the meeting will include follow-up to some major United Nations conferences held in 2025. 

Given the multiple global and regional challenges to be addressed at the Forum meeting, which particularly affect women, adolescent girls, and girls in all their diversity, progress toward substantive equality and the building of a caring society in Latin America and the Caribbean is under strain. 

In this context, the side event aims to highlight the agreements reached by member States at the Sixteenth Regional Conference on Women, through the Tlatelolco Commitment, and to position care as a central pillar of multilateral efforts toward gender equality and sustainable development. It also seeks to highlight its synergy with the 2030 Agenda, particularly with SDG 17, to accelerate progress toward achieving the goals, as well as to foster the exchange of experiences and best practices among States, the United Nations system, experts, and civil society organizations, particularly women’s and feminist organizations, to address these challenges.