Outcome LAC_D_1.2

More women lead and benefit from national and local initiatives in political dialogue, peacebuilding, conflict prevention, human mobility, humanitarian action and climate resilience

In 2024, significant progress was achieved in advancing the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region through the adoption and development of National Action Plans (NAPs). Notably, Ecuador and Colombia successfully launched their respective NAPs in December 2024. These plans were tailored to address the unique national contexts, integrating gender-sensitive approaches and inclusive monitoring indicators to ensure effective implementation and accountability. Additionally, the WPSHA team played a crucial role in facilitating the development of Trinidad and Tobago’s first WPS NAP. While its publication is scheduled for March 2025, ongoing technical assistance has ensured the inclusion of robust monitoring frameworks. Regional efforts also included the conceptualization of a Caribbean Regional Action Plan on WPS, supported by a £50,000 initiative aimed at addressing gender-based violence, organized crime, and climate-related challenges. Through its Japan founded programme on “Leadership, empowerment, access and protection of women in the human mobility crisis in Central America” (LEAP/Trayectos), UN Women secured that women, girls and LGBTIQ+ people affected by the human mobility crisis have greater leadership, participation on equal terms, and benefit from gender-sensitive protection services and social cohesion initiatives in host communities on the northern and southern borders of Costa Rica. Humanitarian actors have improved their capacity to plan and deliver protection services, including attention to gender-based violence, that respond to the needs of women on the move in Costa Rica. In 2024, UN Women provided training to 23 humanitarian actors from organizations such as IOM, UNHCR, HIAS and Casa Esperanza, 10 women from the Humanitarian Network of the Corredores canton in Paso Canoas, as well as 13 officials from the National Institute for Women (INAMU) of the Brunca Region that provides care services to the population in transit, which provides new tools to the people participating in the care and response to revealed cases of JBV and the incorporation of the gender perspective in the humanitarian response. A total of 84 members of organizations, leaders, activists and feminists from Costa Rica improved their capacities to incorporate the gender perspective in humanitarian action, through a course developed by UN Women and FLACSO called “Gender equality and participation of women in humanitarian action”, that seeks to develop technical capabilities and transversalise gender within their actions and areas of influence. These results were consolidated thanks to UN Women’s advocacy spaces such as protection tables and interagency spaces where it has positioned a gender agenda in the humanitarian and institutional sector. Through a partnership agreement with HIAS Costa Rica, UN Women provided psychosocial and GBV protection services to 1,152 women, girls and LGBTIQ+ people who have entered through the southern and northern borders of Costa Rica through mobile brigades. Also, within this agreement, leaders of host communities who are part of community organizations have increased their capacities through 3 social cohesion initiatives developed in host communities at each of the borders. In addition, 188 women and girls have received hygiene and protection kits that are sensitive and adapted for human mobility based on the needs reported by them and humanitarian actors in Costa Rica. The National Coalition Against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (CONATT) - Coalición Nacional contra la Trata de Personas y el Tráfico Ilícito de Migrantes - has strengthened its efforts to prevent and respond to human trafficking and smuggling of migrants from a gender-based approach. The work has been driven by improved data collection, exchange and analysis of data on trafficking in persons and smuggling, the development of new protocols and the enhancement of capacities for public officials. These initiatives were supported by the Migration MMPTF Joint Fund on “Strengthening Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Agencies' Capacity to Coordinate and Exchange Information to Investigate and Prosecute Human Trafficking and the Smuggling of Migrants”, implemented by IOM, UN Women and UNODC. Additionally, the Costa Rican judiciary has improved access for trafficking victims and smuggled migrants through specialised capacity-building programmes, the assessment of services and attention, the preparation of tailor-made consultation materials and manuals for internal coordination. A key achievement of this intervention is the reactivation of the Sub-Commission for Combating Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants. Progress has also been made towards the establishment of a permanent Commission to Combat Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants. In addition, the protocols and mechanisms for data and information exchange have been improved through reforms to ensure better coordination between institutions, as well as training on the reforms and the application of a gender and human rights approach to procedures. Regional health services are more respectful of the needs and identities of migrants from a human rights and gender-based approach through capacity strengthening for health care personnel in communities with the highest human mobility rates. Financial service providers are making progress on the financial inclusion of vulnerable migrants through training and awareness of migrant women’s needs promoted by UN Women.

More women lead and benefit from national and local initiatives in political dialogue, peacebuilding, conflict prevention, human mobility, humanitarian action and climate resilience

ACRO (Regional Level) In 2025, UN Women contributed to measurable institutional shifts across Latin America and the Caribbean in Women, Peace and Security (WPS), peacebuilding, security sector reform, safe cities, and gender-responsive humanitarian action. Strengthened technical capacities, regional coordination, and knowledge products translated into concrete policy adoption, improved institutional practices, and stronger accountability for gender equality. At policy level, countries advanced the design, adoption and implementation of WPS National Action Plans, including the first CARICOM NAP in Trinidad and Tobago, while improving inter-institutional coordination and alignment with territorial priorities. Regional and global platforms increasingly reflected LAC priorities, and new mechanisms—such as the Gender and Human Mobility Focal Points Network under the Quito Process—embedded gender equality more systematically in migration governance. Gender perspectives were incorporated into frameworks including Cartagena+40, MIRPS, the RMRP and ERISE+, strengthening institutional commitments to protection, socioeconomic integration and care-centered recovery. Within security and justice sectors, diagnostics and technical assistance led to reforms reducing institutional barriers to women’s leadership, including at provincial police level in Argentina, and supported integration of gender perspectives into small arms control and security policies. Strengthened inter-agency coordination through R4V, REDLAC and PRETT improved system-wide accountability for gender equality in humanitarian planning, reporting and protection standards. Across the humanitarian–development–peace nexus, institutions increased their capacity to design and implement gender-responsive programmes, informed by new regional analyses and tools on GBV, trafficking, care in crisis and protection in displacement contexts. Youth and intergenerational engagement mechanisms expanded inclusive policy dialogue, embedding young women’s priorities into regional and global processes. NPPs Venezuela Strengthened capacities of women peacebuilders, youth leaders, humanitarian actors and public officials translated into greater institutional openness to inclusive dialogue, social cohesion and gender-responsive humanitarian planning. Women leaders increased influence in municipal, state and national coordination spaces, contributing to integration of gender, protection and care-centered approaches in programming and reintegration proposals. Institutional actors improved preparedness to prevent violence, address online harms and respond to trafficking and protection risks, while women-led organizations gained greater access to coordination and financing mechanisms, reinforcing their role in the humanitarian architecture. Peru In San Miguel, the Safe Cities intervention generated durable municipal-level change. Sexual harassment in public spaces was recognized as a policy priority, leading to adoption of Municipal Ordinance 520/MDSM, validated response protocols and stronger inter-institutional coordination. Authorities and security actors institutionalized gender-responsive prevention and response practices, while participatory processes strengthened trust, accountability and citizen engagement in local security governance. Uruguay Institutional strengthening within the Ministry of Defense improved understanding of gender equality and the WPS agenda and enhanced tools to address barriers to women’s participation in UN peace operations. This translated into more favorable institutional conditions for equitable decision-making. Female participation in deployments increased from 5.1% to 7.2% despite an overall reduction in the national contingent. Family support measures further enabled sustainable participation, creating a more inclusive institutional environment. Costa Rica Institutions and civil society strengthened their capacity and advocacy performance to address violence against women, including against migrant and refugee women and in trafficking and smuggling cases. Protocols, tools and training improved service provision, while 129 civil society representatives enhanced their advocacy and support roles. Through the LEAP/Trayectos programme in Costa Rica, 4,000 migrant and refugee women and girls accessed protection kits, psychosocial first aid and case management, strengthening access to services in displacement contexts. Shared GBV response protocols improved coordinated, gender-responsive humanitarian action. Women leaders in border communities promoted social cohesion and local initiatives, including literacy projects. In Heredia, gender-sensitive approaches were progressively integrated into public space planning, supported by evidence and participatory processes. Concrete safety investments, including USD 30,000 in lighting improvements, reflected strengthened institutional commitment. Finally, 12 organizations working on human mobility consolidated into the Network of Women in Mobility, transitioning from isolated efforts to sustained coordination, information-sharing and complementary actions to improve protection and inclusion of migrant, asylum-seeking and refugee women and girls.

More women lead and benefit from national and local initiatives in political dialogue, peacebuilding, conflict prevention, human mobility, humanitarian action and climate resilience

The implementation of the Migration MPTF Joint Programme (IOM, UNODC, UN Women) in Costa Rica is allowing UN Women to strengthen the capacity of Costa Rican authorities to identify, investigate and prosecute organized crime affecting migrants in transit, and reduce the vulnerability of migrants to human trafficking and smuggling through a gender and human rights perspective. UN Women has been developing initial diagnosis in alliance with IOM to guide project implementation and capacity building processes are under implementation. UN Women has been advocating for the inclusion of a gender perspective in the implementation of all efforts of the Joint Programme. An important achievement has been in the inclusion of sex-disaggregated variables and specific questions for the analysis of the information with a gender perspective the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) to produce gender-sensitive reports. This will facilitate analysis and decision making on human mobility to include a gender perspective by OIM , other agencies and possibly government counterparts.