Parliamentarians and subject-matter experts discuss investments in the care economy at ParlAmericas 14th Gathering of the Parliamentary Network for Gender Equality, hosted by the Congress of Colombia
Today and tomorrow, in collaboration with the Congress of the Republic of Colombia, ParlAmericas is hosting the 14th Gathering of its Parliamentary Network for Gender Equality (PNGE). The event, titled Legislative Perspectives for Inclusive Economic Growth: Investing in the Care Economy, takes place from November 30 to December 1, in Bogota, Colombia, and it marks the first in-person, hemispheric-wide convening of ParlAmericas’ membership since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This PNGE gathering brings together parliamentarians and subject matter experts from over 20 countries of the Americas and Caribbean to exchange experiences and good practices for legislative action related to care work and the economy, underscoring connections to national economic growth and development, and the realization of human rights.
The programme includes high-level speakers from U.N. and inter-American bodies including CARICOM, the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) of the OAS, ECLAC, FAO, and UN Women, in addition to representatives from national institutions and offices that are innovating on the provision of comprehensive services and statistical measurements of care.
In the gathering’s sessions, parliamentarian delegates and the invited specialists are delivering presentations and engaging in panel dialogues that explore themes such as the economic and social value of care, methods to promote the collection of high-quality data to quantify unpaid care work, and laws and programs that support a holistic approach to meeting the varied needs and rights of caregivers and care recipients throughout their life cycles.
The host of the gathering, Honourable Representative Jezmi Barraza (Colombia), Vice-President for South America of the PNGE, stated “I am pleased to extend a warm welcome to our colleagues from across the hemisphere on this noteworthy occasion, in which we are examining legislative actions that can advance women’s rights. As parliamentarians, we have important roles to play in building new paradigms and legal frameworks that value care work as essential to advancing human capabilities and more equitable economic prosperity.”
The President of the PNGE, Senator Verónica Noemí Camino Farjat (Mexico), emphasized that, “It is time to take bold action: the gendered distribution of care work is one of the strongest determining factors of inequality and poverty in the Americas and Caribbean. I am proud that through ParlAmericas we are dedicating our attention to this priority agenda that implicates each and every one of us – men and women alike.”
Upon the conclusion of the two days of the PNGE gathering, the parliamentarian delegates will participate in the 19 th Plenary Assembly of ParlAmericas on December 2. The Plenary Assembly will focus on multilateralism and parliamentary engagements in the inter-American system.
