The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) jointly with partners submitted two amicus curiae briefs to inform the process for an advisory opinion to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on the right to care requested by the State of Argentina.

On January 20th, 2023, the Argentine Republic submitted to the Secretariat of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights a request for an advisory opinion regarding “The content and scope of care as a human right, and its interrelationship with other rights”, under Article 64(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights. A copy of the mentioned request can be found in the following link.

This is a paradigmatic process that will clarify States’ human rights obligations in the InterAmerican system and will further develop international standards relative to the recognition, redistribution and revalue of care. Considering that care responsibilities are unequally placed on women and girls due to gender stereotypes, these submissions aim to provide a human rights approach to reimagine care systems ensuring they centre the needs of the most marginalised and the protection of the planet.

The first amicus curiae brief was presented jointly with partners members of ESCR-Net. It provides an overview of the international human rights framework that define the normative content of the right to care and unpacks the three dimensions of the right to care encompassing the right to provide care, to be cared for and to self-care comprehensively addressing the different type of rightsholders that should be legally protected. The brief also contains an innovative section on the impacts of the environmental breakdown on care systems, including the adverse effects of extractive industries on the unequal distribution of care. It also aims to recognise the unpaid care work performed by Indigenous Peoples to protect local ecosystems and engage in environmental stewardship. This brief thus seeks to cover important gaps in legal protection at the regional level providing guidance on the key issues that the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights should address in its Advisory Opinion.

You may read the Amicus Curiae Brief developed by ESCR-Net here:

The second brief was presented jointly with the Initiative of Human Rights in Fiscal Policy on "The content and scope of the right to care and its interrelationship with other rights." The purpose of the request is for the Court to define the content and scope of the right to care and the corresponding state obligations in accordance with the American Convention on Human Rights and other international human rights instruments. The questions posed to the Court are grouped into four axes: (a) the human right to care, to be cared for, and to self-care; (b) equality and non-discrimination in terms of care, (c) care and the right to life, and (d) care and its link to other economic, social, cultural and environmental rights (ESCR).

You may read the Amicus Curiae Brief here:

The process to develop the Advisory Opinion will be followed by a series of hearing that will give opportunity to all stakeholders to voice their concerns and highlight their main contributions to the discussion. The Court will thereafter issue the Advisory Opinion that will provide legal guidance on the States human rights obligations related to the right to care. To follow up on this process you may find all relevant information in this link.