This intergovernmental gathering – which takes place every three years – will be key to accelerating the pace to further the achievement of women’s autonomy, the care society and substantive equality in the region.

Senior authorities from Mexico and other governments in the region, along with representatives of the United Nations (UN), multilateral organizations, parliaments, academia and civil society – particularly women’s and feminist movements and organizations – will gather on August 12-15, 2025 in Mexico to participate in the XVI Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The event, to be held at the Centro Cultural Universitario Tlatelolco in Mexico City, will address “political, economic, social, cultural and environmental transformations as a means of advancing the care society and gender equality.”

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) serves as the Secretariat of the Conference, which it has organized since 1977 and, since 2020, in coordination with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).

The official inauguration will take place on Tuesday, August 12, while on Wednesday, August 13, ECLAC will release the position paper The Care Society: Governance, Political Economy and Social Dialogue for a Transformation with Gender Equality, which aims to stimulate debate at the meeting. After this presentation, a dialogue of high-level authorities will take place.

The programme includes three panel discussions on issues such as “Financing for gender equality,” “Accelerators to generate synergies between the right to care and care for the planet” and “Guidelines for care policies from a gender, territorial and intersectional perspective.”

The Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean will also be relaunched, and there will be a segment entitled “Memory and Future” marking the 50th anniversary of the first World Conference on Women (Mexico City, 1975).

Prior to the start of the Conference, three activities involving multiple stakeholders will be carried out: on Sunday, August 10, the Local Government Forum will convene, and on Monday, August 11, the Feminist Forum and the Parliamentary Forum will meet. Their conclusions will be presented at the regional gathering on Wednesday, August 13.

The Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean is a subsidiary body of ECLAC and is the main intergovernmental forum within the United Nations focused on women's rights and gender equality in the region.

At the sessions of the Conference, ECLAC’s Member States adopt commitments that make up the Regional Gender Agenda, a profound, progressive, comprehensive and cumulative road map that positions this region as the only one worldwide to have an agenda that guides countries’ public policies for achieving gender equality under the law and in reality, while also guaranteeing women’s rights and autonomy. 

Journalists interested in covering this event in person must get accredited via the following link. Those professionals whose registration has been accepted by the organizers will be able to pick up their credentials as of Monday, August 11, upon presenting their official IDs and/or press identification.

All available information on the Conference, including the programme and press registration, can be found on this special website: https://conferenciamujer.cepal.org/16/en

WHAT: XVI Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean.

WHEN: Tuesday, August 12 to Friday, August 15, 2025.

WHO: Representatives of governments, UN and intergovernmental organizations, academia, parliaments and civil society, particularly women’s and feminist movements.

WHERE: Centro Cultural Universitario Tlatelolco at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Av. Ricardo Flores Magón 1, Tlatelolco, Cuauhtémoc, 06900, Mexico City, Mexico.

And virtually via:

• ECLAC’s website: www.cepal.org
• Special website for transmission: http://live.cepal.org/XVIConferenciaMujerALC
• ECLAC’s official account on X:https://x.com/cepal_onu
• ECLAC’s official account on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cepal.onu

Follow the event with the hashtags #XVIConferenceWomenLAC and #CareSociety