Data for Care: Strengthening Care
Governance in Latin America
by Open Data Charter Team
In Latin America, care sustains daily life, yet it remains one of the least visible dimensions in public decision-making. Much of this work —both paid and unpaid— falls disproportionately on women and households, deepening structural inequalities across the region.
In this context, as governments move forward in designing care systems, a key question arises: How can we develop effective public policies without the data needed to understand who provides care, who needs it, and under what conditions?
At Open Data Charter (ODC), we have been working to address this challenge through the strategic use of open data. Previous experiences in Buenos Aires¹ and Mexico City² have shown that data can help make the social organization of care visible by integrating information on service provision, population needs, the dynamics between the State, the market, communities, and households, and the working conditions of caregivers.
Building on this foundation, and with the support of Open Society Foundations, we are launching a new initiative in the municipality of Santiago de Cali (Colombia) and the state of Nuevo León (Mexico) to develop Care Indicator Systems. These systems aim to strengthen the generation, opening, and use of data within this agenda.
From Fragmented Data to Systems for Decision-Making
One of the main challenges in the care agenda is information fragmentation. Data is often scattered across different sectors, leaving significant gaps in key areas such as non-governmental care provision or the measurement of its economic and social value.
In response to this scenario, the project seeks to move beyond the collection of isolated data points toward the construction of indicator systems that enable a comprehensive understanding of how care is organized. These systems facilitate the analysis of how different actors interact and how changes in one area impact the whole.
In Cali and Nuevo León, this process will involve surveying information sources, mapping key stakeholders, and identifying data gaps. It will also include the development of comparable and contextualized indicators to be used in the design and monitoring of public policies.
A Guide to Opening Care Data
The development of these systems is based on ODC’s Care Data Open Up Guide³, a tool that guides governments in identifying priority datasets to inform how the supply and demand for care are distributed across a territory. Furthermore, this instrument includes a step-by-step implementation process, as well as suggested standards to facilitate the adoption and effective use of data within this agenda.
This guide proposes a structured approach that considers both those who require care —children, older adults, and people with disabilities— and those who provide it, including households, the State, the market, and community organizations.
By implementing this guide in different contexts, this guide not only improves data availability but also strengthens information governance within the care agenda.
About the Project
Both Cali and Nuevo León have made significant strides in recognizing care as a right and a public policy priority.
In Cali, the Cali District Care System (now known as CuidARTE) was born with a clear purpose: to transform how the city organizes care, recognizing it not as a private family responsibility, but as a right and a shared responsibility between the State, communities, the market, and households
While its central focus is on women (who have historically assumed the bulk of invisible and unpaid care work, limiting their access to employment, education, and the full exercise of their rights), the System also seeks to strengthen comprehensive care for those who need it most: children, older adults requiring support, and people with disabilities. In this sense, CuidARTE aims to redistribute the care burden, expand the public service offering, and ensure that providing and receiving care occurs under conditions of dignity and equity⁴.
The need for this System is backed by concrete data. A 2022 survey in Cali revealed that women spend an average of 7 hours and 50 minutes daily on unpaid care work, compared to 4 hours and 3 minutes for men. Furthermore, the total workload for women, combining paid and unpaid labor, exceeds 15 hours a day.
At the same time, four out of ten children under the age of five do not access any care services outside the home, a gap that disproportionately affects lower-income households⁵. With a consolidated institutional framework and diagnostic evidence available, Cali now faces the challenge of translating that knowledge into an indicator system that allows for regular monitoring, via open data, of whether conditions for caregivers are improving.
In Nuevo León, the State Care System opens new opportunities to integrate data use into policy design and implementation. This system recognizes care as a necessity, as paid and unpaid work, as a human right, and as a public good and strategic value for the state’s economic development⁶. It is estimated that unpaid household work represents approximately 15 % of Nuevo León’s GDP⁷, which has helped position this agenda in the state’s public discourse.
This system is comprised of a State Care System Commission involving government actors, civil society, the private sector, and academia. Recently, the “Care Kit” was presented, a tool developed for the design and redesign of public actions in this field. It incorporates a Conceptual Framework consisting of 14 concepts developed collaboratively by a “Care Expert Group” made up of 21 specialists⁸.
This project is embedded within these local processes, providing structured evidence to improve decision-making, optimize resource allocation, and strengthen the quality of care services.
The development of the indicator systems will be carried out through a collaborative approach that includes mapping stakeholders and available data sources, participatory prioritization and validation workshops, technical sessions with statistical offices and care departments from each government, and a Technical Help Desk that will support implementation during the critical months of the process.
The workshops will seek to reflect on the care agenda in the region and within each subnational government, as well as the relevance of the selected indicators for informing the design, monitoring, and evaluation of care systems. To this end, work will be conducted using materials specifically created for each session, which will later contribute to the sustainability of the indicator systems in each locality.
Additionally, exchange opportunities will be facilitated for peer learning between the teams from Santiago de Cali and Nuevo León, as well as sessions showcasing previous experiences from Buenos Aires (SICCABA) and Mexico City (SICCDMX). Both the prioritization and exchange spaces will be conducted in coordination with actors from the data and care ecosystem.
Likewise, the work in these two territories will generate comparative evidence and lessons learned that will help strengthen the Care Data Open Up Guide as a useful tool for other governments in the region.
Toward a Data-Driven Care Agenda
Data is not an end in itself. Its value lies in its capacity to inform decisions, make inequalities visible, and guide more effective public policies. In the care agenda, this means recognizing the work that sustains life, understanding its dynamics, and designing responses that promote greater equity.
With this initiative, ODC seeks to contribute to the strengthening of care systems in Latin America through open, interoperable data oriented toward the public interest.
Because improving information on care is also a way to improve the conditions under which we provide and receive care.
[1]: To learn more about the Buenos Aires City Care Indicators System: https://www.estadisticaciudad.gob.ar/si/cuidados/principal
[2]: To learn more about the Mexico City Care Indicators System: https://indicadoresdegenero.semujeres.cdmx.gob.mx/indicadores/indicadores-de-cuidados
[3]: To learn more about the Open Up Guide for the Care Sector: https://open-data-charter.gitbook.io/open-up-guide-for-the-care-sector
[4]: To learn more about CuidARTE: https://bit.ly/CuidARTE
[5]: To learn more about the demand and supply of care in Cali households: https://www.cali.gov.co/bienestar/loader.php?lServicio=Tools2&lTipo=descargas&lFuncion=descargar&idFile=79411
[6]: Nuevo León Council (2026). Care. Concepts. Care Kit.
[7]: To learn more about the care economy in Nuevo León: https://conl.mx/hallazgos/implementar-politicas-de-cuidados-para-ciertas-poblaciones-en-nl-generaria-113577-empleos-en-solo-un-ano/
[8]: To learn more about the Care Kit: https://conl.mx/proyectos/un-kit-de-cuidados-para-llevar-de-idea-a-implementacion/
