UN Women and the National Institute of Human Rights strengthen institutional capacities to promote human rights, equality and non-discrimination

^{The training focused on human rights-based policing, gender-responsive approaches, and protection mechanisms for women and girls in situations of human mobility. Photo courtesy of the National Institute of Human Rights. Photo: UN Women/Diana Leal.} 

As part of the ongoing collaboration between UN Women and Chile’s National Institute of Human Rights (INDH), the two institutions implemented a series of initiatives to strengthen the capacities of public institutions to systematically integrate human rights, equality, non-discrimination, and gender perspectives into their work.

These initiatives are part of a joint effort to support more effective responses to the challenges associated with human mobility in the country, and to promote more inclusive services that respect the rights of women, girls, and people belonging to groups requiring special protection.

The activities provided practical tools to support preventive, proportionate and rights-based policing, contributing to a more inclusive public security approach grounded in respect for human dignity. 

Strengthening gender mainstreaming 

As a second pillar of this collaboration, UN Women delivered a series of virtual training sessions for 60 staff members of the National Institute of Human Rights from regional offices across the country. The objective was to strengthen their technical and operational capacities to incorporate an intersectional gender perspective into the analysis, promotion and protection of human rights.

The first session focused on the application of the Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA) methodology, a tool that helps identify differentiated risks, unequal impacts and the specific needs of groups in vulnerable situations. Drawing on experiences from the Pisiga-Colchane border area, participants explored ways to integrate these findings into institutional reports, recommendations and actions.

The second session focused on the protection, guidance and promotion of human rights through a gender-responsive and intersectional approach. Participants examined the differentiated impacts of human mobility, the identification of protection risks, the prevention of re-victimization, and good practices for providing people-centered services that respect diversity.

Through these initiatives, UN Women and INDH reaffirm their commitment to strengthening the institutional capacities needed to promote, protect and guarantee human rights, contributing to a more inclusive, coordinated and people-centered public response.

INDH Director Yerko Ljubetic highlighted the significance of the programme: “Trayectos promotes a coordinated response that places women in situations of human mobility at the centre of public policies, humanitarian action and territorial development. The programme contributes to building safer, more inclusive and humane border areas while strengthening both State capacities and the social fabric of host communities.”

Strengthening carabineros’ capacities for human rights-based policing 

As part of this collaborative effort, UN Women and INDH conducted the training programme “Safe Territories and Human Rights: Gender-Based Violence, Non-Discrimination and Human Mobility” in Pozo Almonte for more than 30 members of Chile’s Carabineros police force from the Tarapacá Region.

The training aimed to strengthen the capacities of police personnel to integrate human rights, non-discrimination and gender perspectives into their daily work, particularly in contexts related to human mobility and public security.

The programme covered topics including the principles of equality and non-discrimination in policing, the rights of groups requiring special protection, and State obligations regarding human rights. It also explored international standards for assisting women and girls in situations of human mobility, gender-based violence, the differentiated risks they face, and the importance of providing people-centered services that prevent re-victimization and are connected to institutional protection networks.

Alma Pérez, Officer-in-Charge of UN Women Chile, stated: “Strengthening the capacities of those working in public security is essential to ensuring services that respect human rights and the dignity of all people. In contexts of human mobility, women and girls face specific risks that require timely, informed and non-discriminatory responses. UN Women values this opportunity to work jointly with INDH and Chile’s Carabineros, contributing to safer, more inclusive and more protective territories for women in all their diversity.”

These initiatives form part of UN Women’s regional strategy on human mobility and the work being carried out through the Trayectos Programme, funded by the Chilean Agency for International Development Cooperation (AGCID) and the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB). The programme seeks to protect rights, strengthen institutions and promote social cohesion in border areas between Chile and Bolivia.

Trayectos advances a coordinated and gender-responsive approach that places women in situations of human mobility at the center of public policy, humanitarian action and territorial development. The programme contributes to building safer, more inclusive and humane borders, strengthening both State capacities and the social fabric of host communities to create safer environments for women and girls, in line with the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. 

About Trayectos 

Since August 2024, UN Women has been implementing the Trayectos Chile-Bolivia project with the support of the Chilean Agency for International Development Cooperation (AGCID) and the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB). The initiative seeks to protect the rights of women in situations of human mobility, strengthen institutional capacities and promote social cohesion in border territories of both countries.

Through a coordinated and gender-responsive approach, the project places women at the centre of public policy, humanitarian action and territorial development, contributing to safer, more inclusive and humane borders while strengthening both State response capacities and the social fabric of host communities.