Strengthening Care Laws and Policies in the Caribbean
Date:
Group photo of participants at the meeting venue. UN Women Photo / Sharon Carter-Burke
St. Georges, Grenada – April 24, 2026: Care of children, the elderly and people living with disabilities is not women’s work and it is not a private matter. Care is a macro critical economic issue.
Isiuwa Iyahen, UN Women Multi-Country Office (MCO) Caribbean Deputy Representative and Head of Office a.i. stressed this to Caribbean Parliamentarians and national gender machinery representatives at the recent Better Practices in Legislation, Policy, and Financing Subsidised Care Systems: Using the “5R” Approach and Principles meeting hosted by ParlAmericas, UN Women and the Parliament of Grenada. This initiative had funding support from Global Affairs Canada.
Ms. Iyahen highighted that Care is an issue that sits quietly beneath fiscal debates, labour laws, social protection systems, and development ambitions—yet without which none of them can function.
The UN Women Head of Office said Parliamentarians as architects of the social contract with their citizens, the meeting’s rich content offered an opportunity to strengthen laws and policies on care.
The Honourable Dennis Cornwall, Grenada Minister for Finance in his role as Acting Prime Minister, told the delegates of the progress his country had made in advancing care and social protection.
Acting Prime Minister Cornwall, said the meeting was an important moment for sharing lessons to ensure resilient care economies in the region.
Read the meeting’s outcome statement here Joint Statement - Care Work - Grenada.