This year’s International Day for Care and Support arrives with a historic affirmation: in June 2025, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights recognized care as an autonomous human right in its Advisory Opinion 31/25. For the first time, an international tribunal has declared that every person has the right to receive care, to provide care under dignified conditions, and to care for themselves. This recognition reflects a growing regional commitment to care as a pillar of equality and social justice within the Inter-American system, marking a paradigm shift in how societies value and organize care, and setting a precedent for similar initiatives in other regions.

 For UNRISD, this moment underscores decades of research and advocacy showing that care is not only a moral or social necessity but also a foundation of inclusive, sustainable development. UNRISD’s work on care economies, social reproduction, and gender-responsive policies has consistently highlighted that recognizing, reducing, and redistributing unpaid care work is essential to achieving gender equality, decent work, and social justice.

 The Advisory Opinion reinforces the importance of an intersectional approach to care justice—an approach that UNRISD has long advanced through its work on structural inequalities and inclusive social policy, and through the development of a course on gender and intersectionality. By recognizing that inequalities in care are shaped by the interplay of gender, class, ethnicity, age, disability, and migration status, the Court’s reasoning validates the need for policy frameworks capable of addressing multiple and overlapping forms of discrimination.

 The Court’s recognition strengthens the case for what UNRISD and global feminist movements have long demanded: public investment in care systems as a pillar of social policy, not an afterthought. Building comprehensive care systems that span childcare, eldercare, health, and social protection can transform economies and lives by creating quality jobs, supporting women’s participation in the workforce, and ensuring no one is left behind.

 Equally significant, the Advisory Opinion affirms the need to transform the cultural and social norms that perpetuate gendered expectations around care. Its call for education systems and public policies that challenge stereotypes and promote shared responsibility strengthens UNRISD’s long-standing work on masculinities and cultural change, demonstrating how care justice is inseparable from broader processes of cultural transformation toward equality, autonomy, and solidarity.

Care is not charity or merely a private duty, it is a human right

 As we mark the International Day for Care and Support 2025, the message is clear: care is not charity or merely a private duty, it is a human right. Ensuring that right requires action and embedding care into national constitutions, budgets, and policies. The Inter-American Court’s ruling provides powerful momentum for a global movement to make care justice a reality everywhere.

 The challenge ahead lies in moving from recognition to realization. The Advisory Opinion represents without any doubt a landmark for the Americas and a powerful regional precedent for advancing care as a human right. Therefore, turning this milestone into tangible progress will require political courage, fiscal commitment, and sustained regional cooperation. As UNRISD’s research continues to show, achieving care justice demands not only normative advances but transformative policies capable of shifting structures, behaviours and values, ensuring that care justice is not only declared but delivered.

 UNRISD continues to advance research and dialogue on the care economy, linking human rights, social policy, and sustainable development. Because when care is recognized as a human right, everyone benefits.