Mexico participates in the public hearing on 'The content and scope of care as a human right, and its interrelation with other rights'

Mexico participates in the public hearing on "The content and scope of care as a human right, and its interrelation with other rights"

• The Mexican delegation highlighted the contribution of care to sustaining life and society, saying that it must be recognized as an autonomous right.

On January 20, 2023, Argentina requested an advisory opinion from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) on "The content and scope of care as a human right, and its interrelation with other rights," based on the American Convention on Human Rights and other international human rights instruments, asking the IACtHR to determine the scope of care as a human right, as well as the corresponding obligations of States.

The IACtHR requested written opinions, to be sent in November 2023, and subsequently held a public hearing on March 12-14 at IACtHR headquarters in San José, Costa Rica.

In line with its feminist foreign policy and long tradition of promoting new international standards in the area of human rights and gender equality, Mexico submitted a document to the IACtHR aimed at demonstrating that this right has its own content and scope, and therefore that the Court should recognize it as an autonomous right. It is interrelated with the right to equality, to life and to various economic, social and cultural rights such as the right to health, to work and to education; and it must be understood from a gender and intersectional point of view in order to recognize the diverse needs, burdens and obstacles faced by different groups of women in relation to care.

The Mexican delegation presenting the oral arguments at the IACtHR public hearing was headed by the Chargé d'Affaires of the Mexican Embassy in Costa Rica, Víctor Sánchez Colín. It included experts from the National Women's Institute (Inmujeres), Marta Clara Ferreyra Beltrán; the Foreign Ministry, Elizabeth López García; and the Mexican Embassy in Costa Rica, Margarita Flores Díaz.

The Mexican delegation spoke on March 12, mentioning the contribution of care to sustaining life and society; recognizing care as an autonomous right; the importance of positioning care as an engine of growth, well-being and peace and, finally, the importance of developing this right from an intersectional approach.

Mexico prepared its written observations and oral arguments for the public hearing by holding a dialogue with civil society organizations and academia.

By participating in the written and oral phases of the request for an advisory opinion on the right to care, Mexico reaffirms its commitment and efforts to build a more just and egalitarian society, and to ensure the human rights of all persons and, particularly, of women, adolescents and girls in all their diversity.