MundoSur is a think-tank that undertakes and promotes projects with strong social impact from different parts of Latin America, using innovative tools and constructions, allowing us to strengthen public policies with human rights approach and a gender perspective. Our work is thought from the South, supporting each intervention with these three axles:

  • Human Rights approach
  • Gender Perspective
  • Intersectionality approach

OUR MISSION

We are fully aware of the potential and strength of the ideas and initiatives that emerge from our territories, which frequently find obstacles to echo in the centers of power, preventing them from becoming effective public policies. For this reason, we connect actors and organizations from different areas of our region to strengthen their actions, promoting the exchange and transfer of knowledge, through “south-south” cooperation.  Our mission is to contribute to the strengthening of more inclusive, democratic, just and participatory societies, through innovative actions with regional and territorial impact, with a focus on human rights and a gender perspective. We believe that the collective and democratic constructions are the key to positive social transformations.

OUR VISION

To become a platform for social transformation, with an impact throughout Latin America, as exemplary promoters of public policies with a human rights approach.

OUR MAIN PROJECTS

Latin American Femicide Map: This one-of-a-kind monitoring tool was designed by MundoSur to denounce and make visible the scourge that women in Latin America are experiencing, worsened by preventive and mandatory social confinement in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of October 5, 2020, we have registered 1,574 gender-based deaths of women in 13 countries in Latin America. We are currently working to generate or obtain reliable records from more countries to expose the true dimension of femicides in our region. In 2019, we registered more than 3,000 cases, so we estimate that at least 9 femicides occur daily in these countries.

Latin American Network Against Gender Violence: This project began as a part of the Latin American Femicide Map but became an independent initiative of MundoSur when we detected its potential. Currently 25 organizations from all over the continent participate in this network that fight to make femicides visible in the region and to think about concrete actions to face their advance. Today more than ever, Latin America is facing the opportunity to forge new agreements, new alliances and new perspectives, which help to build the paradigm of equality. MundoSur is convinced that the elimination of gender violence in the region will be a consequence of collective work.

Regional Dialogue Board for the Construction of Gender Policies: We understand that the organizations of the territory are fundamental to achieve gender equality, but we must also work hand in hand with local governments so that the new paradigms become effective public policies that benefit women, girls and other minorities. When the Latin American Network Against Gender Violence began to grow, we began to attract the attention of some local governments and that is why we decided to start this project. We are currently managing agreements with several cities in Argentina and Ecuador to work together on innovative gender policies. Its main objective is to establish itself as a space for dialogue between public servants and specialists in gender issues, so that they can exchange successful and promising experiences to put an end to gender violence.

Atlas of Rural Women: Guardians of Abya Yala, Argentina Chapter: We are a country with a profound social inequity. The most affected by this situation are women, young women and girls, especially rural, indigenous and Afro-descendant women who live in poverty and extreme poverty. In the current economic crisis, natural disasters and the loss of employment due to COVID-19, this population has been the most vulnerable. The poorest young women and girls have lost the opportunity to receive an education because they do not have access to digital technology. The government has not had the capacity to manage mechanisms to guarantee many of their rights. For this reason, we have started the project “Atlas of Rural Women: Guardians of Abya Yala. Argentina Chapter ”. This project seeks to make visible the struggles and work of rural women in Latin America and the Caribbean as supporters and creators of life.

LGBTIQ + Hate Crimes Monitor “Marielle Franco”: Despite certain advances that have been made in the region in recent years, the LGBTIQ + community is still a victim of discrimination and persecution of all kinds. Same-sex marriage is legal at the national level in only 6 Latin American countries. 80% of Latin American trans women die before the age of 35, and despite this, only 11 countries in our region have legal procedures to guarantee their rights. Hate crimes based on gender and sexual diversity are commonplace in our region: between 2014 and 2019 at least 1,292 people from the LGBTIQ+ collective were murdered. For reasons like these we decided to create the LBGTIQ + “Marielle Franco” Hate Crimes Monitor, in recognition of the Brazilian human rights activist murdered in 2018. This monitor seeks to record all those crimes that threaten life, physical integrity and / or sexual behavior of the people in this group committed by lgbt-haters. Our records individualize case by case, allowing the incorporation of different intersectionalities to enhance the richness and depth of our future reports to have an impact on more and better public policies to face these scourges.

OTHER ACTIONS:

Awareness campaigns, research in various fields, training workshops and virtual forums, among other actions.