Paraguay promotes the recognition of the right to care

Paraguay is a country firmly committed to the 2030 Agenda. Different reforms and actions are being implemented to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Among them is the process of building a national care policy. This initiative is led by the Ministry of Women and is supported by the project “Support to Implement the 2030 Agenda in Paraguay”, which is being financed by the European Union and coordinated by FIIAPP. 

The right to care was the topic discussed at the meeting organised by the Driving Group for the Care Policy (GIPC). Representatives from state bodies and entities at the central government, governorate and municipality levels participated to advance in the formulation, through collaboration, of the regulatory, institutional and service framework to ensure the care of all citizens. 

During the meeting, different dimensions relating to the right to care were addressed, for example, that social dynamics in effect mean that care work falls more heavily on women, who gain access to fewer opportunities. According to the Time Use Survey from the Paraguayan National Statistics Institute, women spend almost twice as much time as men on caring tasks in the domestic sphere. 

Also dealt with during the event, was the lack of specific regulation regarding situations such as childhood illness or caring for the elderly. According to the specialist Lilian Soto, public care policies should be 4 dimensional, addressing: the time spent dedicated to care, the resources to do this, the care services and decent employment in care work. In his speech, the coordinator of the 2030 Agenda Support project, Ernesto Abdala, stated that advancing care policies “is central to building a fairer Paraguay and one with sustainable development”.