April 7, 2026. The Division for Gender Affairs of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) convened government representatives from the region to the "Technical meeting on mainstreaming the gender perspective in fiscal policy in Latin America and the Caribbean". The meeting was a space for exchange and reflection on national experiences, in line with the agreements of the Tlatelolco Commitment in fiscal matters.

The dialogue was structured around the presentation of the progress of the document “Guidelines for mainstreaming the gender perspective in fiscal policy in Latin America and the Caribbean” prepared by ECLAC, and featured the participation of 16 countries from the region: Bahamas, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Montserrat, Paraguay, Suriname, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Trinidad and Tobago.

As part of the opening session, Ana Güezmes, Chief of the Division for Gender Affairs of ECLAC, recalled that at the most recent session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Mexico in 2025, member States of ECLAC adopted by consensus the Tlatelolco Commitment, which urges to promote and adopt progressive fiscal policies, to allocate budgets with a gender perspective, and to implement specific and innovative financing mechanisms. In this context, she emphasized that fiscal policies are not neutral regarding gender inequalities, since both the level of tax collection and the tax structure, as well as budget allocations and their execution, have direct effects on socioeconomic and gender gaps. In this sense, she pointed out that strengthening fiscal policy with a gender perspective is key to ensuring sufficient, sustainable resources aimed at reversing inequalities and guaranteeing the rights of women, adolescents, and girls, including the right to care. Furthermore, Güezmes highlighted that the current context has exposed the importance of fiscal policy to mobilize resources and boost development with equality and sustainability. Within this framework, she stated that fiscal policy is revealed as a strategic tool to simultaneously advance in overcoming development traps, guaranteeing women's rights and autonomy, and advancing towards the care society, as proposed by the Tlatelolco Commitment approved by the member States and associate members of the region.

For his part, Noel Pérez, Officer in Charge of the Economic Development Division of ECLAC, highlighted that the fiscal space allows "bringing a vision of the member States to develop a proposal for guidelines based on the work that the countries are doing". He emphasized that given the increase in demands and the reduced fiscal space, it is vital to comprehensively consider "the available expenditure, income, and financing instruments". To support the identification and quantification of expenditure according to its incidence, Pérez highlighted the collaborative and interdivisional work of ECLAC, pointing out three reference documents: the Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean 2021 (which incorporated a chapter on fiscal policy with a gender perspective), the Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean 2023 (which included an estimation of public expenditure linked to gender equality and its methodological challenges), and the study Conceptual frameworks and methodologies for identifying public expenditure with a gender perspective published in 2024.

During the presentation of the guidelines document, Nicole Bidegain Ponte, Social Affairs Officer of ECLAC, pointed out that the document presents tools for mainstreaming the gender perspective considering fiscal policy from both the revenue and expenditure sides. Faced with current challenges, she stressed that a dual strategy is required: "gender mainstreaming throughout the budget cycle and affirmative actions with specific financing".

Subsequently, experiences of mainstreaming the gender perspective in fiscal policy in different countries of the region were presented. Rosa Matos, Director of Mainstreaming at the Ministry of Women of the Dominican Republic, presented the progress of gender-sensitive budgets through the Functional Gender Equity Classifier and its link to performance bonuses. She pointed out that "inter-institutional coordination is key for mainstreaming to become a reality" and stressed that these processes must be accompanied by an awareness-raising process "from top to bottom and from bottom to top", to overcome operational ignorance. In addition, she identified that "not overclassifying and underclassifying is part of the challenges" to overcome.

Paula Triviño-Gaviria, Director at the Ministry of Equality and Equity of Colombia, highlighted the "Budget tracker for women's equity", which allows demonstrating the "multiplier effect of spending, particularly of productive projects for women". Regarding tax reforms and the inclusion of gender in income tax returns, she explained that the data confirm structural problems: "it shows that there is a concentration of wealth and land in men". She concluded by stating that, to increase social spending, "a much more progressive reform is required".

María Eugenia Romero Torres, Tax Policy Coordinator of the Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit of Mexico, shared her country's experience in applying the 0% VAT rate to menstrual hygiene and management products. She assured that this initiative has been a "progressive measure in terms of income", significantly benefiting women in the lowest deciles. She stressed that civil society organizations are monitoring the measure to evaluate its impacts.

In the open exchange space, representatives from various governments enriched the dialogue. The representative of the Secretariat of Women's Affairs of Honduras highlighted that the fundamental challenge is to overcome instrumental approaches that view the inclusion of the gender perspective as targeted actions for a specific group, and ensure that fiscal policy acts as an "instrument of structural justice". The representative of the National Women’s Institute of Costa Rica reflected on the importance of advancing synergistically between affirmative actions and gender mainstreaming in the national budget. She highlighted the importance of the State's purchasing power and the importance of gender initiatives, generating interest in the private sector to obtain equality certifications. The representative of the Ministry of Government of Ecuador commented that they are using a tool to make the use of resources visible called the "guiding classifier of spending on equality and environment policies".

At the closing of the meeting, Nicole Bidegain Ponte highlighted that incorporating the gender perspective into fiscal policies implies breaking the "glass walls" to promote inter-institutional coordination. Bidegain emphasized that mainstreaming should not be perceived as a "new burden" administrative, but as the fundamental way to "make policy more efficiently with a greater impact and with a contribution to sustainability and equality". She remarked that generating collaborative spaces and having disaggregated data allows for evidence-based decision-making, thus consolidating transformative fiscal policies that accelerate the pace towards substantive equality throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.