The Care System of Bogotá, Colombia

City-Led Participatory Governance for Gender-Equitable Care

2020

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The Care System of Bogotá provides an example of a city-led model of participatory governance in caregiving. This innovative, accessible, and award-winning system covers care needs through a co-responsible approach. The Care System also addresses a pressing challenge exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic: a significant increase in unpaid care work in Bogotá, which has disproportionately fallen on women.

A Network of Services for Caregivers and Care Recipients

The Care System offers a network of services and programs to caregivers, mainly women, and those who require care, including children under the age of 13, people with disabilities, and the elderly. Along with Bogotá’s recent public policy on women and gender equity, the Care System builds a new social contract whereby the unpaid care work is redistributed among society, the State, and the community. Its governance principle of co-responsibility enables the Care System to achieve its overarching goal of recognizing, redistributing, and reducing unpaid care work in the city.

In the capital city of Colombia, over one-sixth of its 7.9 million dwellers carry out unpaid care work. This figure accounts for an increase of nearly 500,000 caregivers since the pre-COVID era. In Bogotá, 9 out of 10 caregivers are women and almost 34% of them are over the age of 50. What’s more, women spend five and a half hours a day on unpaid housework. If paid at market rates, caregiving would account for 20% of Colombia’s GDP. Considering this untapped potential for economic opportunity and in support of the growing number of women caregivers in Bogotá, the Care System presents a necessary policy solution that alleviates and redistributes care work equitably.

« Care Blocks » at the Core of Caregiving

Pivotal to the implementation of the Care System are Bogotá’s care blocks (las manzanas del cuidado in Spanish). The city has repurposed existing public infrastructure such as schools, healthcare centers, and sports facilities to set up care blocks, which are available within a 15- to 20-minute walk for dwellers. Care blocks are designed to help women care for themselves, and thus provide them opportunities for relaxation, personal development, and participation in politics and civic life. Continuing education services include business classes, courses toward primary and secondary school diplomas, yoga, or learning to ride a bicycle. To ensure that caregivers, especially women, are able to participate, simultaneous programs and services are offered for caregivers and those they care for. For example, while a child takes swimming classes, a mother can enrol in an educational or recreational activity at the same care block. This innovation in the way the municipality plans and offers its services has responded to a key challenge: how to create time for those who lack it.

Between October 2020 and October 2022, Bogotá has developed 14 care blocks and mobilized fully equipped vehicles to bring care services to those who live in rural areas. In its first two years of implementation, the Care System has provided more than 230,000 services to caregivers and care receivers. The city plans to build a total of 45 care blocks by 2035, widening access to a network of care services throughout the city. Circular public transport routes will continue to increase accessibility to care blocks. This spatial approach to care establishes the foundation for Bogotá’s 2022-2035 development plan and leads the city toward a gender-equal and sustainable city.

Communities Decide

Community participation has been integral to the design and implementation of Bogotá’s Care System. Not only was the care system conceptualized in discussions with women and caregivers, but the city also continues to foster a permanent, constant, and direct dialogue with communities. While the care system is a city-led initiative, Bogotá’s city-led care system provides an excellent example of embracing participatory governance and placing communities at the center of decision-making. Through civic participation, Bogotá was able to determine that its priority for the Care System should be to provide more free time to caregivers so that they could participate in further education opportunities, improve self-care and partake in politics and civic life.

During the design phase of the care system, the city conducted 21 focus groups, 17 interviews, and 17 interviews with caregivers. The participants included women of different races, sexual orientations, and those with disabilities, bringing diverse perspectives to the table. The voices, visions, and experiences of nearly 5,500 women have further shaped Bogotá’s public policy on women and gender for 2020-2030.

While the Care System is managed by the Women Secretariat of Bogotá, it is supported by a city-wide intersectoral commission, highlighting the cross-sectoral nature of caregiving. Moreover, to ensure the continued participation of women caregivers in the design and implementation processes of the system, Bogotá has introduced in the Commission a citizen participation mechanism that brings to the table the voices of a diversity of women and caregivers. Additionally, local care system roundtables hosted across the city provide neighbors with a platform to engage with the administration. Together, feedback from the Commission and the roundtables shape the future of the Care System.

Challenges to Participatory Governance

Despite the successes of the award-winning Care System, it has also faced challenges. For instance, the « historic distrust » of government institutions in Colombia posed a barrier to participatory governance. The city continues to engage with neighbors and caregivers to develop a sense of ownership of the Care System. The administration is also working to codify the Care System in national law and secure funding to sustain this initiative so that administrative change does not leave women stranded. The city continues to evaluate the Care System and its outcomes to incorporate feedback from caregivers and care receivers so that it can truly achieve the goals of recognizing, reducing, and redistributing the responsibilities of caregiving.

Furthermore, education plays a critical role in sustaining the Care System. Bogotá provides training to women in local planning and participatory budgeting to encourage them to participate and influence policies that impact them and their communities. As gender stereotypes continue to place the burden of caregiving on women, the city conducts cultural transformation workshops focused on teaching men how to care for themselves and others. Participatory governance thus will be most effective if it coincides with broader shifts in the discourses and perceptions of gender.

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