In April 2025, the SDG Local Solutions Series focused on how the city of Bogota, in Colombia, has been implementing their Care System, showcasing how local governments can institutionalize specific policies that transform the lives of women and their communities. The city’s experience offers valuable insights for other territories aiming to build inclusive, rights-based care systems.
Download “A practical guide to become a caring city: a case study on Bogotá, Colombia” in English, Spanish or French.
Watch the full event recording in English and Spanish on our Youtube channel.
Download the guidelines about Bogotá here.
Access to the data visualization about Bogotá here.
The Bogota Care System model
Bogota’s model shifts from fragmented social assistance to a territorial approach that recognizes, reduces, and redistributes unpaid care work that disproportionally affects women. At its core, the system combines three key components: Care blocks (Manzanas del Cuidado), where services for caregivers and dependents are offered in one place; Care buses (Buses del Cuidado), which bring those services to underserved areas; and the Home care program (Atención en Casa), which supports women who cannot leave their homes due to full-time caregiving. Together, these tools have redefined how care is delivered — embedding it in the territory, centering caregivers, and making care a public right.
What makes the system innovative is not just the clustering of services, but its guiding principles:
- Time redistribution – freeing up caregivers’ time through direct service provision.
- Accessibility – locating services within walking distance or offering mobile options.
- Intersectionality – designing for the most excluded, such as rural women, migrant women, and informal workers.
- Women-centered governance – developed with participation of women and care workers themselves.
Case focus: in-home care services
A key advancement of Bogota’s care system is the “atención en casa” or home care services. These are directed to women who are unable to leave their homes because they are primary caregivers for individuals with mental or physical disabilities or chronic illnesses.
Instead of demanding the impossible from these women — like attending in-person training while leaving dependents unattended — the city deploys a team that brings support to their homes. This includes:
- Health checkups for care recipients
- Legal and psychosocial advice for caregivers
- Vocational training and educational programs for caregivers, provided in flexible formats
This strategy acknowledges the unpaid work these women perform and offers them tools for autonomy and inclusion without penalizing their caregiving role. Moreover, it disrupts the idea that care should be invisible or isolated.
Lessons learnt
Bogota’s model offers valuable insights for other cities aiming to build care systems that are sustainable, inclusive, and gender-responsive. Among the most relevant lessons:
- Territorial mapping is crucial
Starting with data, Bogota’s approach relied on geo-referenced data to identify where women’s unpaid care burden was most intense within the city neighborhoods. This allowed to prioritize high-need areas and a more efficient allocation of resources.
- Concentration of services increases impact
Placing legal, education, employment, and psychosocial services in the same space reduces the logistical burden on caregivers and helps create a one-stop-shop model. The presence of institutions from multiple sectors in each Care Block fosters coordination and reduces duplication.
- Bring services home for those who need it the most
In-home attention recognizes that not all beneficiaries can access public infrastructure. The model requires investing in mobile teams — psychologists, lawyers and educators — that travel to caregivers’ homes, delivering state presence to otherwise invisible spaces.
- Design for time poverty, not just income poverty
Time-use surveys helped shift the perspective: women living in poverty often face the additional burden of a second “shift” of care work. Policies must address both time and income deprivation simultaneously.
- Invest in care infrastructure, not just in cash transfers
Bogota demonstrates that beyond monetary support, investments in public infrastructure (childcare centers, laundry spaces, and professional training centers) have long-term effects on social inclusion and women’s autonomy.
- Create feedback loops through women’s participation in governance
The system was co-designed with women and social organizations. Listening to their voices — especially caregivers, domestic workers and migrants — helped shape relevant, non-paternalistic services. Cities should institutionalize participatory spaces to continuously adapt policies.
- Recognize care as a right, not as a favor
The public discourse in Bogota intentionally shifted the narrative from “helping poor women” to “guaranteeing rights to caregivers”. This has symbolic and legal implications, helping build a care-based citizenship.
- Build interdepartmental and multi-level coordination
The Secretariat for Women of the Mayor’s Office led the project, but it also involved the Education, Health, Labor, Planning, and Mobility departments. Coordination across sectors and levels of government was critical for scale and sustainability.
- Focus on care as an economic strategy
The care system is not only a social policy — it is also an economic investment. By supporting women’s access to education and employment, the model improves labor inclusion, reduces dependency, and boosts local development.
Final reflections
Bogota’s care system shows that public policy is not abstract — it can be institutionalized through municipal action. By centering caregivers, especially women in vulnerable situations, the city is creating not just a new service delivery model, but a cultural shift in how care is valued. Other local governments can adapt this model by listening to community voices, building from local contexts, and moving away from siloed approaches.
To know more about UNDP’s contribution to Bogota Caring City system see our dedicated webpage at https://sdglocalaction.org/bogota-caring-city/