Bogotá received for three days last week the visit of seven members of the Regional Government and experts from Los Lagos, Chile. This was an exchange of experiences where the visitors received technical advice from Bogotá's Care System team to contribute to the construction of the care policy in this region, which comprises seven provinces in southern Chile.
The visit had a packed agenda consisting of meetings, tours, and encounters with the Care System team and delegates from the entities involved. This exchange began on Monday, July 24, with the purpose of presenting Bogotá's work in the design, implementation, financing, and sustainability of the Care System.
The agenda begun with a meeting where the Secretariat for Women's Affairs presented the prioritization index designed to establish which areas and districts of the city needed Care Blocks. This index takes into account the needs of people living in Bogotá, particularly caregivers and those in need of care.
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Throughout the day, the technical team from this Secretariat explained the operating model of Care Buses, the financing strategies, and the territorialization of the Care System through the implementation of Bogota’s Master Plan.
The first day of the visit concluded at the Teatro Libre, where the delegates from the Los Lagos Government enjoyed the play '¿Quiénes cuidan a las que nos cuidan?' (Who takes care of those who take care of us?), the first play performed by caregivers in Bogotá.
On Tuesday, the exchange of experiences began with a visit to the Care Block in the Bosa Porvenir neighborhood. There, the attendees learned how the Block model functions and the services it provides for caregivers and their families. During the tour, they visited the community laundry, the care spaces for children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, the swimming pool, the gym, the classrooms, the technology and information center, and the psychol-legal office.
Here's a tweet from the Women's Secretariat in which Jessica Morales, a psychologist from the University of Los Lagos Puerto Montt, Chile, talks about her experience in the Care Blocks:
4⃣ Durante el recorrido, tuvieron la oportunidad de conocer los servicios, resolver sus dudas y hacer preguntas a quienes prestan los servicios para las cuidadoras y cuidadores. 👩🍼👨🍼 pic.twitter.com/IPDD4LFi53
— Secretaría de la Mujer (@secredistmujer) July 25, 2023
The delegation was composed of Jose Luis Muñoz Uribe, Regional Advisor, representative of the province of Osorno and President of the Social and Community Development Commission of the Regional Council of Los Lagos; Manuel Rivera Altamirano, Regional Advisor, representative of the province of Llanquihue and member of the Social Commission of the Regional Council of Los Lagos; Roberto Soto Escalona, Regional Advisor, representative of the province of Palena and member of the Social Commission of the Regional Council of Los Lagos; Nelson Aguila Serpa, Regional Advisor, representative of the province of Chiloé and member of the Social Commission of the Regional Council of Los Lagos; Nicole Rosas Ovando, professional from the Social and Human Development Division and official in charge of care programs; Yessica Morales, psychologist and teacher from the University of Los Lagos; and Nicole Chaigneau, psychologist and teacher from the University of Los Lagos. The Chilean officials listened to the experiences of the caregivers benefiting from the Care Block in Bosa district and praised Bogotá's efforts to recognize, reduce, and redistribute care work.
"We find this experience of being here in the Care Blocks very interesting. Knowing the services, they offer and the work they do with the community, we consider this model to be completely replicable in other countries. For us, from the Los Lagos region, this experience is very enriching in building our policy for the elderly," mentioned Roberto Soto Escalona, Regional Advisor, representative of the province of Palena and member of the Social Commission of the Regional Council of Los Lagos.
Later on, they had a meeting with the delegates from the Technical Support Unit of the Care System. In this space, Bogotá shared how gender and care approaches were integrated into the services of all the City's entities.
The visit concluded on Wednesday with a tour of the Urban Care Bus in the Antonio Nariño district. The visitors learned about this mobile model of Care Blocks and praised the work of Bogotá's Administration to bring the Care System to rural and hard-to-reach urban areas.
In the Bus, they experienced the Cultural Change Strategy "A Cuidar se Aprende" (Learning to Care). In a playful workshop, they learned about Bogotá's efforts to redistribute care work and break gender stereotypes surrounding care.
Lastly, the delegates attended a meeting to learn about Bogotá's practices and actions to ensure the sustainability of the Care System. In this space, they learned about the citizen participation work that has been carried out in the implementation of the System.
"For Bogotá, it is a pride to share our experience and inspire other governments to design and implement care policies. We know that this is the path to closing gender gaps, and we are happy to be the ones inspiring the region to start creating and building joint initiatives," said Constanza Gómez Romero, Director of Bogotá's Care System.
