EFSI participation in the care systems in LatAm Conference

On 22 July, the International Domestic Work Day, the Forum Policies and Care Systems: Experiences in Latin America and Europe took place at Eafit University, Medellín campus.

In one part of the forum, there was a panel on International Care Strategies, a vision from the State and the market, including exhibitors from Chile, Uruguay, and Europe through the participation of EFSI. To close the forum, the Union of Afro-Colombian Domestic Service Workers - Utrasd, presented its vision of paid domestic work and the Antioquia and Medellín Care Roundtable presented some recommendations for care systems.

Claudia Restrepo, Rector of Eafit University, explained to the audience that it is very important for academia to refine the discussion on care. She considered that giving notoriety to the issue of care requires not only the presence of academia, but also its interrelationship with the State, society, and private enterprise. Natalia Moreno Salamanca, Director of Care at the Ministry of Equality, considered it essential that any Care System must integrate the knowledge of each territory. Hence, three aspects were incorporated into the vision of the National Care System:

 

• The right to receive care as set forth in the Judgment T-583 of 2023.
• A care society where the Government guarantees the right to care in dignified conditions.
• Recognize and strengthen forms of community care.

Karina Batthyány, executive secretary of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) stated that care is a pillar of the well-being of every one of us, just as health or work. And without care, we cannot exist. We have to understand that we all have the right to receive the care we need throughout our life cycle and that this need for care will change according to that life cycle. Luz Vidal Huiriqueo, undersecretary of the Ministry of Women and Gender Equity of Chile said care is a job and like all work, it must have regulations and the quality of decent work.

Finally, Aurélie Decker from EFSI emphasized in her video message the importance of the PHS industry in society, and focus on the importance of fighting undeclared work, as well as the importance of social dialogue to achieve better working conditions. She presented several European and national-level initiatives aiming at tacklig these challenges.