Santiago Commitment: A regional instrument to respond to the COVID-19 crisis with gender equality

In the current context of multiple crises caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the Santiago Commitment, adopted by the member States of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) at the fourteenth session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2020,2 is particularly relevant as a regional tool to address the structural causes of gender inequality and to foster policies to respond to the pandemic in the short, medium and long term. In the Santiago Commitment, the governments of the region agreed to implement gender-sensitive countercyclical policies to mitigate the impact of economic crises and recessions on women’s lives, and reaffirmed the need to accelerate the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action3 and the Regional Gender Agenda,4 adopting new commitments on innovative and cutting-edge issues.

This document will be presented at the 60th Meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean (February 23-25), organized by ECLAC in coordination with UN Women.