We, civil society organizations and local governments, participating in the Global Platform for the Right to the City -women and girls of all ages, dissidents and backgrounds – from all regions of the world, demand that the matter of living in cities, the everyday life, and thus, care[1], essential for life reproduction, be integrated into urban planning and policies towards fairer, more diverse, and feminist cities and territories.

We need cities and human settlements that prioritize life over the commodification of proposals. We aspire to cities where all women and girls can have equal opportunities and develop our lives  equally, in an inclusive way, based on our diversities, without violence, and by making our contributions visible. A city that recognizes, values, and redistributes care work in families, society, and particularly in the community, all primarily undertaken by women. All of this demands investment in public services and facilities that consider the use of time by caregivers and of people in need of care, as well as proximity and quality. Care must be recognized as a right and as work, thus as a public and social responsibility, with the active engagement of regional/local governments.

The COVID-19 pandemic, combined with the climate crisis – resulting in significant losses and damages at local and national levels-, along with processes of democratic setbacks and growing inequalities, has highlighted the need for care and state investment in comprehensive care infrastructure.

However, despite the evidence gathered, a contradiction persists between the vital and essential role played by care work, as well as community care networks in sustaining reproduction, life and ecosystems, and the lack of visibility, recognition, and support received by caregivers. Therefore, it is urgent to guarantee the recognition of the rights and demands of groups that require care and are also marginalized (especially children, older people, people with disabilities).

We call on all levels of government to radically transform how care is distributed, made visible, remunerated, and supported by infrastructure and services in our cities, which implies:

• Revising traditional approaches to urban planning and policies through a critical lens, incorporating new concepts and methods (including participatory research and a gender-sensitive, plural, and multicultural perspective) to account for the differentiated demands and uses of the city from an intersectional perspective that considers gender, ethnicity and race, income, disability, age, and sexual diversity in environments of citizen security.

   

• Establishing the necessary infrastructure and policies for the development of care systems that reconcile reproductive and productive work in cities with a focus on gender equality, proximity, and accessibility. In other words, cities that promote socio-spatial inclusion and integration, social cohesion, social and intergenerational interactions, a sense of belonging and identity, and an improved urban quality of life through public space and urban design.
  
• Recognizing and including the various cultural, memory, social, and economic characteristics of the communities that inhabit it. Through active citizenship exercises, with participatory policy formulation and public budgeting processes, fostering a sense of belonging and responsibility through democratic governance. Eliminating violence and discrimination in all its forms, ensuring security, peace, equal rights, opportunities, and access to the city’s goods and services.
• Supporting community care networks, formed both by caregivers (housewives, professionals in education, healthcare, domestic workers, among others) and by people in need of care (older people, dependent individuals, more vulnerable groups according to the current care system…), social organizations, and public and private entities linked to this sector. These networks must also include feminist organizations, local and national governments, and other relevant actors to ensure a sustainable process for the implementation of actions.

Explore good practices and policies with care at the centre supported by GPR2C members and allies around the world.

La Ciudad de las Mujeres

Córdova, Argentina

By:  Juntas por el Derecho a la Ciudad

Se propone visibilizar y reconocer a mujeres y diversidades protagonistas en nuestra ciudad. A través de distintos trabajos evidenciamos desigualdades en el espacio público por el escaso reconocimiento a mujeres y diversidades destacadas en la historia de Córdoba.

Cities and human settlements with diverse and inclusive economies

Global

By:  GPR2C, RIPESS, Streetnet, WIEGO, and Urgenci.

This document outlines some of the main pillars of diverse and inclusive economies: Social and Solidarity Economy, Informal/Popular Economy and Care Economy, within the framework of the Right to the City, their inclusion and connection to international agreements and agendas, as well as presenting a set of facilitating actions that can be carried out at the local level to promote and boost diverse and inclusive economies, and support those who drive them.

Thailand Homeless Network

Thailand

By: Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR)

By joining together to address their various needs and by creating and managing their own shelters and permanent housing projects, Thailand’s homeless are becoming full, legitimate citizens in the cities that once cast them aside. .

ODS con enfoque de género y cuidados

Global

By: InteRed

Pretende analizar los ODS, reflexionando sobre las problemáticas que afectan a las mujeres y a la sostenibilidad de la vida, así como abordar alternativas desde el enfoque de género y cuidados. Para afrontar los grandes desafíos globales, necesitamos apostar por cambios estructurales en el sistema que vivimos y que pasan por poner la sostenibilidad de la vida y del planeta en el centro. Lo que exige que los objetivos relativos al cuidado de las personas y del planeta convivan de forma armónica y sostenible con los vinculados al desarrollo económico y social. 

Social Pact on Care

Global

By: ESCR-Net

A new pact will center human rights, people and the planet, grounding our social and economic relationships in a primary commitment to care. This new pact will reject economic growth as the dominant and only paradigm of development and understands that limitless economic growth and pursuit of profit are unsustainable for all forms of life. Building a feminist future necessarily entails transforming the world of social reproduction as a key step to dismantling the structural inequalities that prevent women from fully enjoying substantive equality and their wider economic, social and cultural rights.

Grassroots Women Community Caregivers’ Call to Action

by Huairou Commission, Inmujeres México, UN Women, and the Global Alliance for Care

We grassroots community caregivers and domestic workers call upon governments, international policy makers,
philanthropies, civil society and private sector to join us in advancing immediate practical actions that respect, resource and
compensate local caregiver constituencies and organizations for our leadership in fostering caring society and just
economies.

The GPR2C launches its 10th-anniversary celebrations on International Women’s Day, uniting with more than half of the world’s population – women and girls of all ages, dissidents, and diverse backgrounds – to advocate for placing the issues of urban life, everyday existence, and care at the center of urban planning and policies. This movement aims for fairer, more diverse, and feminist cities and territories.

Check out our new logo! It has been updated to reflect our main priorities: climate justice, care economy, and commons, all approached through the lens of the Right to the City.

Stay tuned and engaged for various moments of reflection, celebration, and gratitude

for the amazing members and allies we have the privilege to collaborate with

More information available here!