From Ciudad Bolívar, the mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, in the company of her cabinet, presented the first Block of Care in the city; an innovative and unique model in Latin America, which seeks to relieve women of the burden of care that for decades has been on their shoulders.
“It is not only about recognizing and redistributing care but institutionalizing it to free up time and opportunities for caregivers. That is why the blocks are so important, so that they find all the services they need in their neighborhood, in a nearby perimeter, ”said the mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López.
The epicenter of this first Block of Care is the new SuperCADE Manitas, which also opens its doors to the Ciudad Bolívar community.
The Mayor pointed out that choosing this neighborhood as the first to start the blocks of the city is not causality, since here there are about 100,000 caregivers whose main activity is doing housework and caring without any remuneration.
This way, Bogotá becomes the first city on the continent to meet needs associated with care work that, if paid, would represent 13% of Bogotá's GDP.
“For Latin America to overcome the feminization of poverty and inequities that we have, it is essential to consolidate a District System of Care. We want women to have better services so that they can be calm because they have someone who supports them to take care of those who they care for and they can return to work and make their life projects come true, ”said the city's president.
The Block of Care comprises 800 square meters around the SuperCADE Manitas, where a set of more than 30 services that are part of the District Care System will operate, created to recognize, redistribute and reduce the care work that has been overloaded in women.
“That in a walkable perimeter or that can be traveled by bicycle in minutes, different services can be found that release loads to the people who take care of others; it changes lives, opens opportunities and removes burdens that for years have fallen especially on women. For that we work every day, to transform lives and to open the way for women ”, explained Claudia López.
Block of Care in Ciudad Bolívar
The first Block of Care will benefit approximately 50,000 inhabitants and will have the SuperCADE Manitas as its anchor entity.
There they will be able to find services for caregivers (women and men) such as flexible education to finish basic and middle school, training for employment with occupational orientation workshops and training for labor inclusion, life skills courses, entrepreneurship workshops for personally owned business and money management.
Added to this is the basic route of health care for women (with rapid tests for HIV and syphilis), individual and group psychosocial care, spaces for respite and self-care, and a connection with other district programs the community could benefit from such as Escuela de la Bici, Plan Terrazas and home improvement for care, as well as advice to access collective financing mechanisms.
In addition, they will have a wide range of services to share, rotate and transform care jobs, with a care school for men, a NIDOS program to guarantee child-care and family time, along with a range of recreational, games and child development offers.
Also, comprehensive health services for people with disabilities, COVID-19 prevention and early detection points, workshops for self-care, development of public recreational spaces, balanced nutrition, enrollment in official schools for girls, boys and adolescents, among other services.
District System of Care- SIDICU
The District Development Plan "A New Social and Environmental Contract for the XXI Century" puts women at the center of it´s goals and actions. This implies incorporating the gender approach in all the work and operation of the district administration to identify, analyze and eliminate the different forms of vulnerability, discrimination and violence that affect them in all their diversity.
With more than 4.5 billion investment, the creation of the District System of Care is one of the most important commitments of the Development Plan of the Mayor of Bogotá in these four years.
The articulation of services and social change will allow to recognize, redistribute and reduce, in a co-responsible way between the District, the Nation, the private sector, the communities and the households; the overload of care work that falls almost exclusively on women.
The District System of Care- SIDICU- articulates services, existing and new, to meet the demands and care needs of people who require high levels of support, such as girls and boys under 5 years of age, people with disabilities, the elderly , and caregivers.
This task will be carried out with the offer of services that will be provided in the Care Blocks, the Mobile Units and with home care relief services that will reach the homes of the beneficiary population.
All Care Blocks will have a service anchor entity, from which information and articulation of institutionalized care services will be managed. In the Ciudad Bolívar Care Block, the anchor entity is the SuperCADE Manitas.
SuperCADE Manitas
Together with the launch of the first Care Block, the SuperCADE Manitas was delivered, a new space that improves citizens' access to the services provided by the Bogotá Mayor´s Office.
With an investment of close to 25,000 million pesos, this citizen service space was built and will be open from Monday to Friday between 9:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. continuously and on Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. at 12 p.m. Here, more than 651 procedures can be carried out through the presence of 16 District or National entities, all in one place.
The SuperCADE Manitas has a large free space terrace where you can practice sports and recreational activities. Additionally, it has direct access from the TransMiCable Manitas station to the access ramp and elevator for people with disabilities.
In total there are 70 service modules, with a waiting area, special furniture for children, and 11 independent offices. Floor one has service stations and administration area, floor two has service stations and banking services and floor three is the entry and exit level, with an information and orientation point and a priority service room for people with disabilities and older adults.
The place also has a ground floor, equipped with a Community Room, which has a capacity for 150 people, for community activities in the Care Block and for the inhabitants of the town.
The entities that will provide their services in the SuperCADE are: Domiciliary Public Services, Lime, Vanti S.A., Social Prosperity, Special Administrative Unit of District Cadaster - UAECD, Institute of Recreation and Sports, District Institute of Animal Protection and District Registry of Civil Status.
The Secretaries of Health, Education, Planning, Government, Environment, Mobility, Finance and Social Integration will also be present.
For the first time, the Secretariat for Women will provide its psychosocial care services in a SuperCADE and it will be focused on serving women in all their diversities.
