Every April 22nd, we commemorate International Mother Earth Day, a date officially recognized by the United Nations through General Assembly Resolution 64/196, adopted on December 21, 2009. This recognition marked a political milestone in the global environmental agenda by emphasizing the need to foster a balanced and respectful relationship between humanity and the planet we inhabit. 

From April 10 to April 13, 2024, UN Women's Deputy Executive Director Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda embarked on her first official mission to the Americas and Caribbean region, which began in Panama. This visit not only marked a significant first in her tenure but also highlighted the region's active advancements in gender equality and intersectional inclusion with a focus on women from rural environments, indigenous women, afro-descendant women, and women with disabilities.

The indigenous women of the Polochic Valley, the ancestral land of the Q'eqchi' people, are at the forefront of defending their lands and territories, safeguarding life and nature, and building and preserving peace. Sexual and other forms of violence against women have been used, both in conflict and post-conflict situations, to suppress their voices, punish them, subjugate them, and cause them and their people shame, breaking their ties with their families and communities.

Since mid-2015 there have been a series of events that shook Guatemalan society. From that scenario arose, genuinely and spontaneously, social movements of protest against corruption, and social demand has grown for structural reforms pending since the signing of the agreements to establish legal frameworks not only for the fight against corruption but for the rule of law respectful of democracy, peace and guarantor of human rights. Despite the progress in generating reforms, many challenges remain in strengthening access to justice for women, adolescents, youth, children, and indigenous peoples.

Violence against women persists in Guatemala. Moreover, different forms of violence against women, particularly against indigenous women, emerge and intensify, as evidenced by high levels of femicide, disappearances, forced child motherhood, and cyber attacks.

Ana Sáenz is a young feminist Guatemalan student of Political Science with studies in gender and feminism. She is committed to defending the rights of women and students to a quality higher education free of violence. She is the former Secretary of Gender of the Association of University Students "Oliverio Castañeda de León" (2017-2019). She is currently a member of the Inter-University Network Safe and Educated (RISE) and national gender activist of Guatemala for UN Women.

Selina Raldes Herrera is a young Bolivian feminist and sexual and reproductive rights activist. She is a medical student in her ninth semester of psychology. She is the national coordinator of the National Platform of Adolescents and Youth for Sexual and Reproductive Rights. This organization works in schools in six departments in 16 municipalities in rural Bolivia to empower girls, adolescents, and young women. She represented Bolivian youth at the Regional Youth Consultation in Santiago de Chile (2020) and the XIV Regional Women's Conference (2020). At the end of 2021, she won a scholarship from the U.S. Embassy's Winter Institute for Young Leaders program. Also, she participated in the Generation Change Program of the Peace Institute in Colombia.

Bianca Malfert is finishing her studies in law, is a regional activist on peace, equality, and climate change issues, and is an influencer and volunteer. She is the national director of the Iberoamerican Alliance for Peace, communications officer for Global Peace, and national director of Mujercitas Bolivia. She participated in the Asia Pacific Youth SDGs Summit (2021) and the Youth Forum of the Americas (2022). She is the author of two published articles entitled: The Humanist Vision of Law 2018 and The Memories of March 8: some characters and their rebellion.

UN Women's Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean praises the work of a platform to bring more female leaders into the public sphere.

Foto: Jose Ignacio Mateis Balza On the summit of Bolivia’s Huayna Potosí mountain, towering more than 6,000 metres above sea level, a flag proudly flies to promote the United Nations Secretary-General’s UNiTE campaign, a global effort to end all violence against women and girls. In 2020, four female climbers – Cecilia and Rufina Llusco, Teodora Magueño, and Ana Lía Gonzáles – planted it there, a testimony of their resilience and...

UN Agencies deeply regret the shipwreck in Acandí, Colombia, on October 11 of a vessel carrying around 30 people headed to Panama. Colombian authorities reported that three people lost their lives in the tragedy and another six, including three children, are missing.

Since 2018, Stephanie Murillo, 32, has presided over the Afro-Panamanian Youth Network, an organization that seeks to form a highly engaged, organized and empowered youth. She is the founder of the digital platform Afroraíces, and in 2019, she won an Emmy Award for best historical-cultural documentary, for her production 'Afrolatinos'.

Sandra López Verges is a Panamanian biochemist with a Ph.D. in Microbiology speciality Virology. She is a Senior Health Researcher and directs the Department of Research in Virology and Biotechnology at the Gorgas Memorial Institute of Health Studies (ICGES).

In an event held on December 14, 2020, with the support of UN Women, the Embassy of Canada in Panama, the Embassy of the Netherlands in Panama, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Social Development of the Republic of Panama, the Gender Roundtable of International Cooperation in Panama (MEGECIPAN) was established.

Yobanca Fernandez Flores has been a women’s rights activist for more than 35 years. She is also the National President of the Community Promoters for the Prevention of Gender-based Violence in Bolivia. Together with hundreds of women leaders in the country, the Community Promoters have formed a network of advocates who provide direct support to victims and survivors of gender-based violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Rosalina Tuyuc Velásquez, a Guatemalan human rights activist, has never given up looking for truth and justice, since her father and husband were disappeared during the Guatemalan civil war. After her father and husband were kidnapped and murdered by government forces during the Guatemalan civil war, she founded the National Association of Guatemalan Widows (CONAVIGUA). It is now a leading national human rights organisation. In 1995, she was elected as a Congressional deputy, and in 2004 she chaired the National Reparations Commission to investigate crimes committed during the civil war, which raged for over three decades.

With support from UN Women, CUNORI developed MipymeLocal.com1, a platform that allows MSMEs, especially those led by women, to have a virtual means for the dissemination of their products and services, as well as to operate as an online store facilitating the continuity and sustainability of business during the emergency.

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