The EU-LAC Foundation actively participated in the 5th Feminist Foreign Policy Conference: Building Peace and Democracy, an international gathering held in Madrid that brought together nearly 700 participants from more than 60 countries, including foreign ministers, representatives of international organisations, the diplomatic corps, civil society, and the academic community.
In a global context marked by instability, challenges to international law, and setbacks in fundamental rights, the Conference consolidated itself as a space for reflection on the future of feminist foreign policy. High-level interventions converged on the need to move from conceptual approaches to concrete action, with greater funding, measurable results, and an expanded range of actors involved in shaping this global agenda.
In this context, the EU-LAC Foundation organised the session titled “Unlocking the full potential of the care society as a new paradigm for sustainable development: a new dimension for diplomacy and cooperation with a gender perspective?”, which brought together representatives from governments, international organisations, academia, civil society, care workers’ networks, and the private sector from the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The session featured the participation of high-level representatives from the European External Action Service (EEAS), UN Women, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
During the opening of the session, Anna Barrera, Director of Programmes at the EU-LAC Foundation, emphasised that care is a fundamental dimension of gender equality, social cohesion, and sustainable development. It was highlighted that care, understood as the set of activities essential for sustaining life, continues to fall disproportionately on women, limiting their economic autonomy and participation in public life.
The discussion also underscored regional progress in Latin America and the Caribbean, where the recognition of the right to care as an autonomous human right, as well as the development of comprehensive care systems, has placed this issue at the centre of the public policy agenda. In this regard, the potential of the EU–LAC Bi-regional Pact on Care was highlighted as an innovative instrument for cooperation between both regions.
Throughout the debate, several key convergences emerged. First, the need to recognise care as an essential social and economic infrastructure, rather than a private matter. Second, the importance of co-responsibility among States, markets, communities, and households, as well as between countries, in order to build sustainable and equitable care systems. Third, the coherence between domestic policies and external action as a fundamental principle of effective feminist foreign policy. Finally, the global nature of care was emphasised, closely linked to migration, global labour chains, and the organisation of the international economy.
The session also highlighted the need to translate political commitments into public investment, international cooperation, and regulatory frameworks that strengthen accessible, high-quality, and rights-based care systems. In addition, participants called for the promotion of decent work in the care sector, with particular attention to domestic workers and women in vulnerable situations.
In closing, a call was made to integrate the care society as a structural pillar of feminist foreign policy and international cooperation, reinforcing its link with peace, democracy, and sustainable development. As highlighted in the conclusions, “when care is organised through co-responsibility, economies are sustained and democracies are strengthened.”
This approach was also reflected in the final Declaration of the Ministerial Conference on Feminist Foreign Policy, which, for the first time in this forum, included a dedicated paragraph on care, recognising its essential role for equality, social cohesion, and the strengthening of democracies.
