The seventieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) will take place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 9 to 19 March 2026. Representatives of UN Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions will gather to advance the priority theme: ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls. This includes promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers to equality.
As part of the official programme, Fundación Avina will host a special parallel event on the Climate and Care Initiative. The Initiative integrates the care agenda and climate action, highlighting their interconnections and drawing lessons from concrete practices led by ecofeminist movements and grassroots organizations.
Together with its partners, Fundación Avina will convene the session:
Care and Climate: How Care Systems Shape Access to Justice in a Just Transition
16 March 2026 | 16:45–18:00 (New York City)
Location: Room CR-8, UN Headquarters, New York
Convened by: International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Fundación Avina, Climate and Care Initiative, and WEDO, with the support of the Global Alliance for Care.
Co-sponsored by: The Governments of Canada, Finland, Mexico, and the Philippines.
Why Care and Climate Justice Matter
Climate change is not gender-neutral. It intensifies unpaid care work, disrupts livelihoods, and deepens inequalities—especially for women and marginalized communities in the Global South. At the same time, care systems are essential social infrastructure for climate resilience: they enable recovery, sustain life, and support adaptation.
Yet care remains largely invisible in climate policy frameworks and climate finance mechanisms.
This invisibility has profound justice implications. When care systems collapse under climate stress, those most affected face barriers to exercising their rights, accessing remedies, and participating in decision-making processes. Recognizing care as climate infrastructure—and care workers as central actors in a just transition away from fossil fuels—is essential for advancing gender equality, climate justice, and inclusive development.
Advancing a Global Just Transition
This event highlights the care–climate justice nexus, drawing on evidence from the Climate and Care Initiative, showcasing innovative policy approaches, and amplifying Global South leadership.
The discussion will explore:
- Strategies to ensure women’s and marginalized communities’ access to justice in the transition to low-carbon economies
- Approaches to mobilizing climate finance for care systems
- The role of care in climate adaptation, labor policy, and social protection frameworks
- Pathways toward a gender-responsive just transition, contributing to global processes leading up to COP31 and CSW72
Programme
Opening Remarks: Framing Care as Climate Infrastructure and a Justice Imperative
- María Noel Estrada, UNRISD
- Carolina Robino, IDRC
Panel Discussion: Care and Climate Justice – Evidence, Policy, and Action
Government Representative
- H.E. Ermelita V. Valdeavilla, Philippine Commission on Women
Civil Society Representatives
- Sitabile Dewa, Women’s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence (WALPE Africa)
Climate and Care Initiative Fund Grantees
- Xiomara Acevedo, Barranquilla + 20 (Colombia)
- Malkia John, Executive Director, Sauti Salama (Kenya)
Photo Showcase: “What Climate and Care Mean to Us”
A visual projection featuring lived experiences from the Global South on climate justice and gender equality through a care lens.
- Agnieszka Raczynska, Fundación Avina
Closing Reflections
- Mara Dolan, WEDO
Moderation: Ana Moreno, Global Alliance for Care
