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Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Regional initiatives placing access to justice for women and girls at the center of development.

By Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD) en América Latina y el Caribe

March 8^th, 2026

Every year on March 8, International Women’s Day reminds us that equality is realized when women and girls have the real ability to exercise and fully enjoy their rights, transforming their lives and those of their communities. In 2026, under the theme “Rights. Justice. Action. For All Women and Girls,” the focus is on closing the gap between legal commitments and the everyday experiences of millions of women and girls in Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly those facing the deepest structural inequalities. Access to justice, understood as the real possibility of preventing violence, claiming rights, and obtaining reparations, remains one of the most pressing challenges for gender equality in the region.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, this challenge is being addressed at a key moment of regional renewal. The revision of the 100 Brasilia Rules on Access to Justice for People in Vulnerable Conditions has more clearly incorporated gender perspectives, intersectionality, and the recognition of care work as a factor of inequality. At the same time, progress continues toward an Ibero-American Convention on Access to Justice, which aims to consolidate binding regional standards and strengthen cooperation among justice systems to ensure more inclusive and effective responses.

This year, the priority theme of the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) is “ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems and eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices.” This priority also connects to the review theme on women’s full and effective participation in public life and the elimination of violence, recognizing that there can be no strong democracy without institutions that act with due diligence and without women able to influence the decisions that affect their lives. Learn more about our participation in CSW70 here.

Within this context, UNDP in Latin America and the Caribbean, together with governments, civil society, and justice-sector actors, and with the support of strategic partners and donors such as the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), AGFUND (Arab Gulf Programme for Development Organizations), and the Global Programme on Rule of Law, Human Rights, Justice & Security (GP4), is supporting countries across the region to transform justice systems by strengthening institutions, promoting women’s leadership, advancing legal reforms, developing technical tools with an intersectional lens, and bringing services closer to communities.

The initiatives presented below demonstrate that advancing equality and guaranteeing rights requires transforming power relations so that justice systems function consistently and no woman or girl is left behind.

Bolivia: Not Without Us!

In Bolivia, conversations about democracy and peace cannot take place without women. Sin Nosotras, ¡No! (Without Us, No!) is a podcast series promoted by the UNDP Country Office together with the Resident Coordinator’s Office and UN Women, with support from the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund. Between March and August 2026, each episode, released on the 25th of the month, creates a space for dialogue on political participation, conflict management, and peacebuilding.

The initiative recognizes that although women sustain community networks, mediate conflicts, and defend democratic life, they continue to face violence, harassment, and exclusion in decision-making spaces. The podcast places these tensions at the center, connecting experiences, expert voices, and testimonies to show that political participation is not only about numerical representation, but also about preventing crises and strengthening institutions.

With six episodes and a multi-channel dissemination strategy, Sin Nosotras, ¡No! aims to influence public debate, highlight the democratic costs of exclusion, and position women’s active participation as essential for sustainable peace in Bolivia.

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Colombia: Women Walking for Truth

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

In Medellín, a group of women has transformed the search for their disappeared relatives into a collective struggle for truth and justice. Since January 2023, UNDP has supported the collective Mujeres Caminando por la Verdad (Women Walking for the Truth), composed of victims of enforced disappearance who search for their loved ones in La Escombrera, in Comuna 13, an emblematic site linked to disappearances during Operation Orión.

This site, where nearly 200 disappearances have been reported, has been recognized as a forensic site of interest and is protected by precautionary measures issued by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace. In this context, UNDP has supported the women searchers to strengthen their participation and advocacy in institutional spaces where decisions about search interventions are made, as well as their oversight role regarding the work carried out by authorities, including the Unit for the Search for Disappeared People.

The support has also included psychosocial spaces that allow the women to collectively face the emotional impact of the search, as well as memory and public awareness actions such as the commemoration of the 22nd anniversary of Operation Orión in 2024. Through these efforts, Mujeres Caminando por la Verdad strengthens the leadership of victims in transitional justice processes, ensuring that truth, memory, and women’s participation become central pillars of reparation and non-repetition.

Costa Rica: Women Peacebuilders

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

In northern Costa Rica, Indigenous Bribri, Cabécar, and Ngäbe women, Afro-descendant women, migrants, and community leaders from Talamanca, Upala, and Los Chiles gathered at the Caño Negro National Wildlife Refuge to strengthen networks and advance the prevention of gender-based violence. Promoted by the UNDP Country Office in Costa Rica, the Encuentro de Mujeres Constructoras de Paz (Women Peacebuilders Gathering) created a territorial coordination space where peacebuilding is understood as a condition for effective access to justice.

In a context marked by high rates of femicide, domestic violence, and sexual violence, especially in border regions and areas of human mobility, the initiative recognizes that justice does not begin solely in courts but also in communities’ capacity to prevent, document, and channel cases toward formal protection mechanisms. Through intercultural dialogue, the exchange of experiences, and the co-creation of solutions, participants are designing local prevention and response plans that will strengthen coordination with institutions responsible for guaranteeing protection measures and access to rights.

The gathering also incorporated childcare spaces, enabling women’s full participation and reaffirming that care is a necessary condition for leadership. Mujeres Constructoras de Paz consolidates a process of territorial and preventive justice, where women act as rights defenders, promoters of peace, and bridges between their communities and institutional systems, contributing to a violence response that is closer, more coordinated, and more effective.

Women Peacebuilders

Cuba: Your Story of Change

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Together with TransCuba Network, the Ministry of Public Health, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the UNDP office in Cuba is implementing the initiative “Your Story of Change: Eliminating Gender- and Rights-Related Barriers; Our Commitment to Equality” (2024–2025) as part of the National HIV Response.

The initiative addresses structural barriers limiting access to health and justice services, particularly for trans women and others facing discrimination based on gender identity. Through strengthening Legal Guidance Services, training primary health care personnel, and supporting community leaders, the project promotes awareness of rights, prevention of violence, and the reduction of stigma.

By 2025, the initiative had strengthened 23 Legal Guidance Services; expanded gender and rights capacities among 60 health professionals (40 of them certified); and conducted a study in Havana polyclinics to identify barriers in accessing differentiated HIV services. Led by organized trans women, this initiative turns justice into concrete action, ensuring non-discriminatory access to rights and services.

Ecuador: Shuar Women Weaving Justice and Violence-Free Lives

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

The UNDP office in Ecuador is implementing the initiative “Empowering Shuar Communities: Advancing Sustainable Development, Gender Equality and Forest Conservation along the Talal–Yuquipa River Corridor” (2025–2026). The project is carried out in partnership with the Association of Shuar Centers of Sevilla Don Bosco, with funding from AGFUND (Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organizations).

In a province with one of the country’s highest rates of gender-based violence, the project includes a gender and inter-cultural component focused on the participatory development of a Community Strategy for the Prevention and Response to Gender-Based Violence, grounded in Shuar cultural relevance. The initiative adapts national and international standards to local realities while recovering ancestral values that promote more equitable relationships.

The project has already produced a community diagnostic on perceptions of violence and developed a strategy with leaders, youth, and families. The next step is to strengthen community promoters who will support implementation and facilitate connections between survivors and national protection and justice systems, consolidating a sustainable and intercultural response to violence.

Ecuador promotes community-based protection and intercultural initiatives in Amazonian Indigenous territories to prevent and respond to gender-based violence.

Guatemala: Equality, Democracy, and Justice from Indigenous Voices

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Ahead of the 2027 general elections, Guatemala will renew key institutions of the rule of law: from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to the Constitutional Court and the Public Prosecutor’s Office. In this decisive context, the UNDP Country Office is implementing the initiative “Strengthening the Participation of Women and Indigenous Women in Second-Degree Elections and the Legislative Agenda for Gender Equality (2024–2026).”

In partnership with the Alliance of Women and Indigenous Women for Access to Justice and the Congressional Women’s Commission, the initiative seeks to expand civic space and strengthen citizen oversight with a gender, human rights, and cultural and linguistic relevance approach.

Technical support has enabled Indigenous women’s organizations to develop territorial information strategies in their own languages, counter disinformation, and participate in public appointment processes. At the same time, the initiative has supported the development of a legislative agenda focused on economic autonomy, the eradication of violence, and political participation.

More than a single intervention, the initiative contributes to women influencing structural decisions that shape institutional legitimacy and the democratic quality of the country.

Weaving Equality: Strengthening Women’s Political Participation | United Nations Development Programme

Mexico: Political Participation as a Guarantee of Justice

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Since 2019, UNDP has partnered with Mexico’s National Electoral Institute (INE) through the National Program to Promote Women’s Political Participation through Civil Society Organizations (PNIPPM). The initiative seeks to strengthen substantive equality in public life and particularly in local political spaces.

The program provides technical and financial support to civil society organizations to develop projects with gender, intersectional, and intercultural approaches. The 58 civil society organizations currently supported across 22 federal entities work to promote political rights, build public agendas with gender perspectives, and prevent political violence against women based on gender. Many of these actions have a strong justice component: they raise awareness among indigenous, Afro-Mexican, LGBTIQ+ communities, youth and senior people, and coordinate efforts with electoral officials and officials at different levels of government.

Across seven calls for proposals, more than 50 projects have been supported annually, reaching more than 10,000 people each year, and over 17,000 in the most recent edition. An independent evaluation in 2025 highlighted transformative impacts on knowledge, practices, and attitudes toward equality, consolidating a national network that connects political participation, violence prevention, and democratic strengthening.

Promoting Women’s Political Participation

Panama: Securing Rights, justice in action and Transforming the Lives of women and girls in the Canal Watershed

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Panama is advancing the right to land through the Land Cadastre and Titling Program in the Panama Canal Watershed with a Gender Approach, co-led by the National Land Administration Authority and the Panama Canal Authority, and implemented by UNDP in coordination with the Ministry of Environment, local governments, and the Public Registry.

With nearly two decades of interinstitutional collaboration, the latest phase has strengthened legal security for families who have historically protected the watershed. The program recognizes land as an enabling right that ensures sustainable livelihoods and the conservation of strategic resources such as water and forests.

Of the 261 land titles delivered, 147 were granted to women and 40 recognized female co-ownership, representing 76% of the total. This progress strengthens the economic autonomy of rural women, their participation in environmental projects, and their leadership in sustainable territorial management, promoting a model in which land, rights, and opportunities are distributed more fairly.

Peru: Sumaq Justicia, The First Line Against Violence

In many rural communities in Peru, justice begins with the figure of a justice of the peace, elected by its own community. Based on this reality, Sumaq Justicia (2021–2027) works to improve responses to gender-based violence where access to the formal justice system is most limited.

The initiative is implemented by UNDP, the Judiciary of Peru, and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). It aims to strengthen the Justice of the Peace system, comprising nearly 6,000 judges nationwide, as an accessible pathway for rural, Indigenous, and Quechua-speaking women facing violence.

The project has developed the first specialized training course on gender-based violence in rural areas with an intercultural approach, adapted risk-assessment tools and practices to local contexts, and created coordinated response pathways linking communities, police, and health services in four regions. It also developed the Unified Justice of the Peace System (SISJUPAZ), integrating this jurisdiction into the digital management system of the judiciary.

Sumaq Justicia, a justice of the peace approach in the face of violence, demonstrates that guaranteeing rights requires, above all, strengthening the institutions closest to women’s everyday lives.

Digital good practices for a more connected justice of the peace in responding to violence.

Uruguay: Dignified Treatment and Non-Discrimination for all

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

UNDP Uruguay is promoting the series “Dignified Treatment and Non-Discrimination in Access to Justice,” aimed at strengthening access to justice through an intersectional and human rights approach. The initiative is coordinated by the Office of the Prosecutor General, with support from UNFPA, UNICEF, IOM, UNDP, and UN Women.

Between 2024 and 2025, four technical booklets were produced for prosecutors, judges, public defenders, and technical teams within the criminal justice system. The series addresses conceptual frameworks for dignified treatment and intersectionality, as well as practical standards and tools to guarantee rights for migrants, LGBTI+ people, and children and youth.

This initiative has contributed to systematizing international and national standards in an operational format, strengthening the role of the Victims and Witnesses Unit, integrating intersectional approaches into judicial practice, and reinforcing cooperation between the Prosecutor’s Office and the UN system. Thus, Uruguay is moving towards more inclusive justice systems, capable of removing structural barriers and guaranteeing effective access to rights for all women and girls.

New Guidelines to Strengthen Dignified Treatment of Victims in the Criminal Justice System

In the Region: A Roadmap to Transforming Justice

Across Latin America and the Caribbean, gaps in access to justice continue to reflect structural gender inequalities, territorial disparities, and institutional weaknesses. In response, UNDP is advancing a Regional Agenda on Justice and Gender, a 2024–2026 roadmap guiding institutional reforms, normative standards, and women’s leadership to transform justice systems in the region.

The Agenda focuses on five pillars: people-centered access to justice; institutional strengthening through the Gender Equality Seal for Public Institutions in the justice area; regional normative harmonization; strengthening women’s leadership in justice institutions; and transforming social norms to prevent violence. The Agenda is developed in partnership with spaces such as the Ibero-American Judicial Summit, COMJIB, ECLAC and UN Women, among other regional actors.

Among its achievements are the gender-responsive update of the Brasilia Rules, support to ministries and judiciaries in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and the Dominican Republic through the Gender Equality Seal, and the promotion of inclusive digital transformation initiatives such as Justice 4.0 in Brazil.

The Agenda is also advancing the validation of a Regional Justice and Gender Framework, translating international and regional standards into concrete action pathways: strengthening judicial capacities, gender-responsive budgeting, data interoperability, and expanding women’s leadership across justice systems. The Framework will thus position the organization as a key player in the regional justice and gender agenda, functioning simultaneously as a policy document, programmatic tool and roadmap for UNDP's regional action on justice and gender.

Justice, Leadership, and Action for Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Persistent democratic tensions, ongoing violence, territorial inequalities, and structural discrimination continue to limit effective access to justice in Latin America and the Caribbean. These challenges disproportionately affect women and girls facing multiple forms of discrimination based on ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, migration status, or place of residence.

Without institutions that act with due diligence, systems that prevent violence, and mechanisms that ensure reparations and participation, rights remain incomplete. Advancing toward inclusive, people-centered, and intersectional justice is essential to strengthen social cohesion, public trust, and democratic resilience in the region.

For UNDP in Latin America and the Caribbean, transforming justice systems so they work for all women and girls is both an enabling condition and a key accelerator for sustainable development and the achievement of the 2030 Agenda, reflected in the upcoming Gender Equality Strategy 2026–2029 and in the coordinated work of national and regional offices.

© 2026 Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD) en América Latina y el Caribe

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