The exchange enabled the identification of common challenges, promising practices, and progress in building national roadmaps for monitoring and updating the plans.
Santiago, Chile, December 3-4, 2025. Representatives from the governments of Chile, Colombia, and Mexico participated in a regional study visit and exchange organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), through its Division for Gender Affairs (DGA), in close collaboration with UN Women. The initiative was supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), within the framework of the project "Strengthening Feminist Foreign Policy and Feminist International Cooperation through a Community of Practice between Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Germany and ECLAC" (CoPEF), which aims to strengthen the capacities of Foreign Ministries and International Cooperation Agencies in the design and implementation of Feminist Foreign Policies and International Development Cooperation with a gender perspective.
The study visit brought together technical teams from foreign ministries, mechanisms for the advancement of women, cooperation agencies, and other public institutions, with the objective of exchanging experiences and strengthening capacities to advance in the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security, 25 years after the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and as an opportunity to implement the recently approved Tlatelolco Commitment at the XVI Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, where countries agreed to "highlight the relevance of Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000), and other resolutions related to the women, peace and security agenda, promote multilateral cooperation to implement the provisions of international humanitarian law, maintain international peace and security, and formulate and implement national action plans, in order to protect the rights of women, adolescents and girls in all their diversity, especially those currently living in conflict situations around the world."
In this context, the study visit emphasized the importance of translating international commitments into public policies aligned with the Regional Gender Agenda and national development and gender equality plans, which in turn have a territorial approach, civil society participation, and coordination and accountability mechanisms.
In the opening session, Ana Güezmes, Director of ECLAC's Division for Gender Affairs, emphasized that the Women, Peace and Security Agenda constitutes a central component for advancing toward substantive equality and for building more just, sustainable, and peaceful societies. In this regard, she highlighted "The progress of countries in the region on the Women, Peace and Security agenda has been fundamental and allows for strengthening feminist international cooperation with a gender perspective in a region that seeks peace." She also emphasized that "the care society proposal that Latin America and the Caribbean contributes to the world is a new paradigm for sustainable development, equality and peace, which prioritizes the sustainability of life and the care of people and the planet." Incorporating care into National Action Plans allows for expanding the notion of peace and security, as a conceptual and political contribution from the Global South from a comprehensive and transformative perspective.
The opening session also included Barbara Scholz, Director of the ECLAC-BMZ/GIZ Strategic Alliance Cluster, who highlighted the importance of strengthening South-South and triangular cooperation as a key mechanism for advancing gender equality in the region, emphasizing the relevance of Germany's third National Action Plan and its potential to promote the Women, Peace and Security agenda in the region; Bibiana Aido, Regional Director of UN Women for Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighted the initiative as a joint work space, stating "we understand that strengthening peace and ensuring the full participation of women at all levels of decision-making is key, and it is especially so in the peacebuilding agenda; we know that when women lead, peace arrives"; Gabriela Rivadeneira, General Director of Technical Cooperation of the Secretariat for Women of Mexico in her capacity as President of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, positively valued the exchange space which allows for reinforcing regional coordination among countries and promoting actions that value women's contribution to peacebuilding, stating "it is important to strengthen the mechanisms that allow us to make the territorial organization of women more effective, recognizing their profound leadership in conflict mediation"; and Luis Yáñez, Secretary of the ECLAC Commission, who highlighted the space as a reflection of the coordination not only of global agendas with regional and national policies, but also the coordination of agendas of various subsidiary bodies such as the Regional Conference on Women, the Regional Conference on South-South Cooperation, and the Regional Conference on Social Development, among others.
During the two days of work, the countries shared progress and challenges regarding their respective National Action Plans. Chile presented its trajectory as a pioneering country in the region, with three plans adopted since 2009, and addressed lessons learned related to governance, interministerial coordination, monitoring mechanisms, and the thematic expansion of its most recent Third National Action Plan. Colombia delved into the participatory and territorialized process that gave rise to its First National Action Plan, highlighting the role and participation of women's organizations and victims, as well as coordination with international cooperation. Mexico, for its part, shared the evaluation of its First National Action Plan and the main elements to be considered for the design of its second National Action Plan, incorporating lessons learned oriented toward civil society participation, conflict prevention, and mediation.
The exchange was developed using a participatory methodology that enabled the identification of common challenges in areas such as financing, institutional coordination, territorialization, intersectionality, and coordination with civil society, as well as systematizing promising practices transferable between countries. Additionally, a collaborative planning exercise was carried out aimed at building national roadmaps to advance in the implementation, evaluation, and updating of their respective National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security. Government authorities present significantly valued the close, practical exchange space that allowed them to dialogue with their counterparts from other countries and other entities, thus learning from different perspectives on approaches to implementing National Action Plans.
The design and technical facilitation of the meeting were led by experts on the Women, Peace and Security agenda from UN Women and ECLAC: Alma Pérez, regional advisor on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action for UN Women; Bautista Logioco, consultant for the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean; and Devanna de la Puente, consultant for ECLAC's Division for Gender Affairs, who accompanied the development of plenary sessions and collaborative work spaces, contributing to guiding the exchange, systematizing lessons learned, and supporting the construction of national roadmaps.
The study visit took place in advance of the 67th meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, in a context marked by the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and by the approval, in August 2025, of the Tlatelolco Commitment. This agreement establishes a decade of action to accelerate the achievement of substantive gender equality and advance toward a care society, reinforcing the positioning of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda as an integral part of the Regional Gender Agenda.
In the closing session, Nicole Bidegain, Social Affairs Officer of ECLAC's Division for Gender Affairs, and Moni Pizani, UN Women Representative in Mexico, highlighted that the meeting contributed to consolidating regional alliances, promoting mutual learning, and strengthening South-South and Triangular cooperation as key tools for advancing in the effective implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean. The main results of the exchange and the good practices identified will be integrated into the community of practice of the triangular cooperation project "Strengthening Feminist Foreign Policy and Feminist International Cooperation through a Community of Practice between Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Germany and ECLAC (CoPEF)."
