Bogotá

Bogotá faces a critical challenge in addressing the disproportionate burden of unpaid care work that falls primarily on women, limiting their access to education, economic opportunities, and overall well-being. Nearly 30% of women in the city are full-time unpaid caregivers, a role that often leaves them with little time or energy to pursue personal development, education, or enter the labour market. This cycle of time poverty creates significant barriers, as women in caregiving roles are unable to improve their education—often only having completed primary school—while also facing physical and emotional strain from constant caregiving duties.

The burden of care work is particularly heavy for women in low-income households, with 33% of them lacking time for self-care and nearly 70% trapped in a cycle of poverty. This not only diminishes their autonomy but also restricts their social and economic mobility, reinforcing deep-rooted gender inequalities.

The Care System in Bogotá seeks to address this by redistributing caregiving responsibilities and offering essential support services. It provides access to education, vocational training, and well-being activities while engaging men in cultural transformation workshops to share caregiving duties.

The Care System in Bogotá is an innovative initiative aimed at addressing the issue of unpaid care work, which disproportionately affects women. By recognizing, redistributing, and reducing this burden, it supports the 5th Sustainable Development Goal: “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” This program integrates care into urban planning, fostering social and environmental justice while promoting women’s social and political participation.

The initiative focuses on three main goals:

• Recognize: Highlight the importance of care work, making it visible and socially valued.
• Redistribute: Share care responsibilities fairly among all members of society.
• Reduce: Decrease the amount of time women spend on unpaid care work to empower their personal growth and autonomy.

The Care System serves three groups:

• Caregivers; Offers education, vocational training, health services, and income opportunities.
• People in need of care: Provides professional care and recreational activities for children, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities.
• Men and the community: Encourages shared caregiving roles through workshops and campaigns to promote cultural change.

To enhance accessibility, it employs three strategies: Care Blocks, Care Buses and Home Assistance.

The Care System in Bogotá has made significant strides in service delivery, governance, and social impact. As of March 2024, the system operates 23 Care Blocks, alongside Care Buses, Home Assistance, and other units, collectively providing 3,934,104 care services to 687,127 people between March 2021 and March 2024.

In terms of education and empowerment, over 37,984 people have graduated from high school, received complementary education, or obtained knowledge certification. Additionally, 29,654 women and their families have participated in cultural transformation workshops, with 6,093 men engaging in these sessions aimed at challenging traditional gender roles and promoting new masculinities. The system has also fostered well-being by involving 173,088 people, including 33,799 women, in recreational activities such as sports and dance.

The Care System has made efforts to ease the daily burdens of caregiving as well. 3,849 people have used community laundries, freeing up 905 days for caregivers. Through targeted programs, women and their families have gained knowledge on accessing employment pathways in Bogotá. Additionally, 5,528 boys and girls have participated in arts-based activities, creating opportunities for personal expression and growth, while also liberating 934 days for caregivers.

By easing the caregiving load and offering women more opportunities for personal and professional growth, the Care System strives to improve women’s well-being, empower them, and foster a more equitable society.

A key development is the creation of InfoCuidado, an information platform consolidating data from nine sectors of the District Administration. It tracks both the services provided and the individuals served, contributing to intersectoral coordination and monitoring.

Governance-wise, the Care System has been incorporated into Bogotá’s Master Plan, with an institutional structure consisting of three bodies: an intersectoral political governance body, a management body, and a body ensuring social participation. These efforts have helped ensure the system’s political sustainability and long-term success.