Negotiating the Care Agenda Across CELAC and the EU: Actors, Governance, and Gender Dynamics Towards a Bi-Regional Pact on Care

The article traces the process undertaken by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States – CELAC (by its Spanish acronym) and the European Union (EU) regarding the care agenda, which last November resulted in the launch of a Bi-regional Pact on Care. Although at first glance this might be read as an example of interregionalism, with the EU acting as a normative power, the findings -drawing on theoretical frameworks of gender norm contestation- reveal reciprocal and contested interactions that challenge unidirectional interpretations. This qualitative study applies an adapted version of Mieke Verloo’s sensitising questions to selected documents—such as the Bi-regional Pact’s declaration previous and final versions, the Buenos Aires Commitment, and the European Care Strategy—and complements this with key actors’ semi-structured interviews. This combination enables a reconstruction of negotiation dynamics, capturing both formal and informal processes and the influence of diverse stakeholders. After nearly three years since the first mention of a bi-regional pact on care, and despite the absence of many leaders at the latest summit in Santa Marta, the CELAC–EU meeting concluded with concrete outcomes, including this non-binding document. Beyond the crucial role played by certain governments and regional mechanisms, momentum was sustained by feminist movements, international organisations, and academia, which have long highlighted the centrality of care for sustaining life and its inseparable connection to gender inequalities. This contested -and potentially transformative- agenda was further strengthened during and after Covid-19, when the historically undervalued role of women in the provision of care was particularly underscored. The article also shows how the Latin American and the Caribbean region played a prominent role in shaping the debates, particularly through norms and ideas produced at arenas such as the Regional Conferences on Women. These regional platforms were essential in developing a common language and projecting the agenda at bi-regional and global levels. The Pact—endorsed by the EU’s 27 member states and by 15 of CELAC’s 33 countries—incorporates the concept of care societies, central to Latin American and Caribbean debates in recent years. It also recognises important elements of the regional care agenda, such as support systems and care practices related to land and ecosystems. More recently, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ advisory opinion recognising care as an autonomous human right constituted a milestone that was also taken up by the CELAC–EU civil society working group, although this perspective has not yet been reflected in bi-regional documents. Beyond the remaining challenges—including implementation, accountability, the inclusion of underrepresented voices, financing tools, and more concrete mainstreaming of care–gender linkages—differences in conceptualisation, possible state co-optation of the agenda, and asymmetries across regions may also shape the Pact’s future scope. Within this context, the article argues that, in today’s complex geopolitical environment, achieving consensus on an gender and human rights issue as such reflects a multilevel collaborative effort that consolidates care as a high-level political priority. This opens opportunities to enhance the coherence and sustainability of bi-regional agendas with transformative social potential.