SANTIAGO, Chile (CMC) — Ministers and senior officials from Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) will meet in Chile on Wednesday for a two-day meeting to evaluate the region’s progress on gender equality and women’s autonomy.

The 66th meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean is being organised by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in its capacity as Secretariat of the conference, in coordination with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).

The meeting will be addressed by ECLAC’s executive secretary, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinach, and Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, the United Nations assistant secretary-general, and UN Women’s deputy executive director for Normative Support, UN System Coordination and Programme Results.

During this two-day meeting delegates will review the preparatory activities for the XVI Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean which will be held in Mexico in 2025 and will address “Transformations in the Political, Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Spheres to Promote the Care Society and Gender Equality”.

“At this intergovernmental gathering in Mexico, participants will discuss how building a care society can offer a transformative response to the crises the region is facing, promoting more productive, inclusive, and sustainable development, where care policies serve as the engine for reducing gender inequalities and enhancing social well-being,” ECLAS said.

It said that the two-day meeting will be held in the framework of a commemoration of the 3th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the approval of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995).

In that context, Ana Güezmes García, director of ECLAC’s Division for Gender Affairs will present the document Action for equality, development and peace in Latin America and the Caribbean: draft regional report on the review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 30 years after its adoption in synergy with the implementation of the Regional Gender Agenda.

At the meeting, participants will also present reports on the Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean which is a key tool for monitoring progress on the regional gender agenda and the Regional Fund in Support of Women’s and Feminist Organizations and Movements.