States in the Americas must recognize care as a human right, IACHR says

October 29, 2025

Washington, DC—On the International Day of Care and Support, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) notes progress made in the Americas to recognize care as a human right. The IACHR calls on States to improve access to care and to recognize the rights of carers and the right to self-care.

Through advisory opinion OC-31/25, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights recognized the content and scope of the right to care as an autonomous human right, in the context of the inter-American system. This recognition boosts visibility for the care needs of all persons, especially in groups with specific requirements including children, adolescents, pregnant women, individuals with disabilities, and older persons, in keeping with various international instruments including treaties. Likewise, at the XVI Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, the participating States adopted the Tlatelolco Commitment, which establishes a decade of action to build comprehensive, universal, and co-responsible care systems with a human rights-based approach.

Lately, several States in the Americas have made progress to regulate and recognize various aspects of the right to care. The IACHR has observed the emergence of programs to certify care in facilities devoted to assisting older persons and persons with disabilities (in Uruguay, for instance) and of oversight and supervision mechanisms for facilities where individuals from these groups receive temporary, long-term, or palliative care.

According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), women in Latin American and Caribbean countries devote 12–24% of their time to unpaid work, while men’s share stands at 5–9%. This suggests that women devote two to three times as much time as men to unpaid work including care. Further, some legislative initiatives seeking to create national care systems have been thwarted by a lack of political consensus.

In countries including the Dominican Republic, there is new legislation in place and efforts are being made to promote a fair distribution of work and shared responsibilities among men and women concerning care. Similarly, various initiatives seek to enable access to social security systems for individuals who do unpaid care work in roles that have historically been performed by women. Recently, States like Chile and Mexico have made progress toward creating national care systems.

Unfortunately, care services and facilities are not free from violence. The IACHR has received reports involving allegations of physical and psychological abuse, arbitrary restrictions of personal liberty and mobility, and malpractice in the administration of medication.

The IACHR calls on States to recognize the autonomy and content of care as a human right with three dimensions: (i) the right to be cared for, ensuring that all persons receive adequate, sufficient, quality care that fosters their dignity and autonomy; (ii) the right to provide care, recognizing care work—paid or unpaid—as dignified work that must be done without discrimination, violence, or precariousness and must not lead to poverty or a lack of social support; and (iii) the right to self-care, protecting every individual’s right to look after their own physical, mental, and emotional welfare and to have access to time, resources, and conditions that support their comprehensive development.

The IACHR is a principal and autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), whose mandate stems from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has the mandate to promote the observance and defense of human rights in the region and acts as an advisory body to the OAS on the matter. The IACHR is made up of seven independent members who are elected by the OAS General Assembly in their personal capacity, and do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 219/25

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