On 23 May, together with Public Services International, Corporación Humanas, the Human Rights Centre of the University of Chile, and ESCR-Net, and with support from the Global Alliance for Care and the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, we co-organised the event “Financing Public Services: Guaranteeing Human Rights for the Construction of a Caring Society.”

Held at the University of Chile’s Faculty of Law, the event aimed to create a dynamic space for the collaborative exchange of ideas, bold solutions, and forward-looking visions to advance a more unified and strategic approach to financing public services and fulfilling human rights. It laid the groundwork for building more just, equitable, and care-centred societies in Latin America and beyond.

Critical issues situated at the intersection of state financing, public services, care systems, and human rights, including the role of the private sector, the implications of a just transition in the face of the climate crisis, and the importance of strengthening international cooperation, were at the heart of the discussion.

The event called on Chilean and regional actors to orient policies and investments towards robust, universal, high-quality public services essential to realising economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights. These services form the backbone of social protection systems that leave no one behind and are necessary for transforming a caring society.

During the event, our Executive Director, Camila Barretto Maia, unpacked the current shifts in multilateral financial governance and their implications for public services, care, and rights. Also, our Programme Officer on Public Services and Care, Valentina Contreras Orrego, called for a decisive turn away from growth-obsessed models toward economies and societies rooted in care.

The event also featured insightful contributions from the Director of the Human Rights Centre of the University of Chile, Constanza Núñez, OHCHR’s Representative for South America, Jan Jarab, International Affairs Advisor at Chile’s Ministry of Social Development, Zoe Zabala, and Julieta Rossi, member of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, among many other distinguished speakers.

The participants reaffirmed a shared commitment to rethinking fiscal and social priorities through a human rights and care lens, building momentum for broader global and regional change in 2025 and beyond.

If you missed the conversation, you can watch it in full length here (Spanish only).