Secretary for Women Affairs of Bogotá
The Pitch
The Secretary of Women Affairs of Bogotá created a support system for unpaid caregivers, who are mostly women, to provide them with job and educational opportunities and improve their economic independence.
The Problem
In Bogotá, 30% of women perform unpaid care work full-time, 20% are unemployed and one in three do not have their own income, leading to a lack of economic autonomy for most women.
The Process
- Incorporated a city-wide Care System into their Urban Master Plan, aiming to create a safe city for women, youth and people of all abilities; in the model, caregivers can take a break from work while Care System staff help with caregiving duties in the home
- Created three prongs of the Care System:
- Care Blocks: organize social services to be available within a 15–20-minute walk or an 800-meter radius
- Care Buses: provide services and access to community centers for people outside of Care Blocks in rural and peripheral areas
- Door-to-Door Care program: brings services to individual households, servicing the 14% of full-time caregivers who can’t access Care Blocks or Care Buses
- Facilitated diverse stakeholder participation through the Care System’s Intersectoral Commission (comprised of representatives from city advisory councils)
- Offered trainings for women to learn the skills needed to develop their own businesses, obtain housing, manage finances and more
- Incorporated the UN’s gender-inclusive post-pandemic economic recovery measures into the Urban Master Plan, prioritizing access to basic infrastructure and public services, inclusive social protections for caregivers, and care for the elderly, people with disabilities and those recovering from COVID-19
The Impact
- Reduced the weekly workload for full-time caregivers by an average of five hours, allowing caregivers extra time to finish college degrees, pursue vocational careers, participate in trainings, exercise and seek psychological care
- Helped women redistribute their time and earn an income by reducing unpaid work hours
- Supported 88 caregivers to graduate high school
- Provided 2,900 caregivers with training to improve independence and stability via 500+ programming events; 178 of these trained caregivers completed a knowledge certification course that improved job opportunities
- Provided psychological and legal advice to 1,560+ caregivers
- Opened a community laundromat for caregivers to wash clothes while resting or receiving training
- Inspired similar initiatives in other countries such as Argentina, Mexico, Chile and the Dominican Republic
