Outcome COL_D_2.1

By 2027, Colombia will have advanced in the effective enjoyment of rights through access to goods and services that guarantee equality and social and productive equity (verbatim UNSDCF Outcome 3.1)

In 2025, women in Colombia—particularly rural, Indigenous, Afro-descendant and young—saw measurable gains in income, savings, organizational strength and access to markets, alongside safer access to protection in mobility contexts and a more responsive governance landscape for care. These shifts strengthened women’s agency to participate in economic life and exercise their rights, supporting progress toward equality and social and productive equity. Evidence shows consolidated changes in capacities and market integration. The four-year Raíces initiative closed with sustained gains among 26 rural productive initiatives in Cauca and Nariño, directly benefiting 800+ women. Participants reported income increases (66%) and savings (72.2%) , while gender-equality knowledge rose from 39% to 94% and 23/26 initiatives improved their organizational capacities (OCI). Regulatory and market access advanced, including 3 sanitary authorizations, 2 commercial agreements and participation of 15 initiatives at the International Sabores Andinos meeting. Private-sector engagement deepened with 23 new WEPs signatories and 17 companies exchanging good practices; national platforms such as the De Igual a Igual Awards and +Cartagena helped normalize gender-responsive standards. Visibility and commercialization also grew through Mujeres Tesas (50 associations showcased; 10 with direct purchases), while 500+ women completed a Financial Education for Rural Women course. An inter-institutional land market analysis provided evidence to inform policy on women’s access to assets. Protection and socio-economic inclusion were sustained in high-vulnerability settings. Along the southern border, gender-sensitive protection reached 3,000+ people on the move via strengthened referral pathways, specialized services and safe spaces. Under Proteger a las Caminantes , 3,304 individuals received emergency assistance in three temporary shelters and one safe house; 464 humanitarian kits with a gender lens supported 314 women and 150 girls; and 661 women and girls accessed specialized medical, legal and/or psychosocial services. Survivors’ socio-economic recovery was supported through immediate integration kits and employability/entrepreneurship pathways (e.g., 40 women certified in trades plus financial literacy), complemented by targeted cash and toolkits. Care-system governance advanced nationally and territorially. Multi-stakeholder coordination helped position care as a right and strengthened the implementation and territorialization of the National Care System and CONPES 4143 ; the prior consultation for the Regulatory Decree incorporated a differential and intercultural approach for Indigenous Peoples. At territorial level, care systems were formalized in Cumbal and Villavicencio , progress was registered in Quibdó , and a departmental framework was developed in Cauca , building institutional capacities across 36 municipalities and engaging 330+ participants. Partnerships with civil society reached 1,356 people and yielded measurable gains in knowledge— +19.5% at community level and +7.71% among public officials—reinforcing the enabling environment for redistribution of unpaid care. These changes were enabled by private-sector commitments to the WEPs , strengthened value-chain and market linkages for women-led enterprises, the maturation of care governance under CONPES 4143 with intercultural safeguards, and sustained, GBV-responsive protection and inclusion measures in mobility contexts (including integration of GBV/PSEA considerations in humanitarian planning instruments). UN Women contributed by combining normative, coordination and operational roles: providing technical assistance to translate access rights and care policy into territorial mechanisms; convening environmental, economic and social actors—including the private sector—for WEPs adoption and workplace change; strengthening women-led enterprises and market pathways; and enabling gender-responsive protection and inclusion for migrant women and host communities. By connecting community-level solutions (enterprises, skills, services) to institutional reforms (care governance, access to assets, GBV-responsive planning), these contributions supported a more inclusive and resilient economic ecosystem for women and advanced progress toward the 2030 Agenda —particularly SDGs 5, 8 and 10 (with links to SDGs 1 and 16 where relevant).