Latin America and the Caribbean

Since the early 2000s, the Raoul Wallenberg Institute has been involved in human rights cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean. This has included cooperation with institutions in Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica Cuba, El Salvador and Guatemala, as well as cooperation on regional and sub-regional level. Our cooperation in Latin America has primarily concerned work with justice sector institutions, armed forces, national human rights institutions, civil society organisations, independent human rights institutes, and academic institutions.

Currently Latin America Programme’s thematic focus is supporting human rights-related regional and national institutions to strengthen their capacities to address root causes and future impacts of ecosystem degradation and climate-related risks. Particular attention is placed on how open information, public participation and access to justice -procedural elements of the right to a healthy environment - contribute to positive substantive outcomes in two fields: 1) healthy ecosystems and biodiversity and b) climate adaptation.

Using the right to a healthy environment and other environmental-related human rights is an entry point for RWI work in which we engage with Latin American and Caribbean partners to advance multi-actor dialogue, transdisciplinary research and strengthen institutional capacities in these fields and, thereby advancing environmental rule of law, environmental democracy and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Previous Programmes and cooperation

Our previous work in LAC has, in particular, included the Inter-American Institute for Human Rights (IIDH), United Nations Latin American Institute for Crime Prevention and the Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD). We have addressed several key human rights issues including human rights and penitentiary systems, gender equality, human rights and conflict management, indigenous peoples’ rights, and the justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights. The work has led to increased capacity in concerned sectors and organisations and institutions to further human rights in these areas.

Contact: 

Claudia Ituarte-Lima

Claudia Ituarte-Lima

Leader of the Human Rights and the Environment Thematic Area

E-mail: claudia.ituarte-lima@rwi.lu.se

Dr. Claudia Ituarte-Lima is Leader of the Human Rights and the Environment thematic area and senior researcher at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law.

 

Dr. Claudia Ituarte-Lima an international public lawyer and scholar with over two decades of experience at the intersection of human rights, biodiversity, and climate change law and policy. Holding an MPhil from the University of Cambridge and a PhD from University College London, she works as Thematic Lead and Senior Researcher at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Sweden and serves as Director of the Global Network for Human Rights and the Environment.

Her work bridges legal analysis with sustainability science to address critical environmental and human rights governance challenges. Using participatory approaches, she ensures her research is both impactful for the communities she engages with and innovative in advancing knowledge on environmental justice and social-ecological dynamics. She has authored over 25 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, alongside more than 35 technical reports and policy briefs. Her publications consolidate international human rights and gender equality standards within biodiversity, climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and environmental human rights defenders contexts. Additionally, she has conducted empirical research at subnational levels, providing valuable localized insights. Her research has been published in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Burmese, Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Chinese.

Together with partner organizations, she has designed and facilitated capacity-bridging initiatives with professionals across three continents: blended learning courses with judges, National Human Rights Institutions, public prosecutors and bar associations in Asia; in Latin America and the Caribbean, facilitating UNEP’s Fifth Montevideo Environmental Law Programme Conference in Panama; in Africa, delivering workshops for UNEP and UNDP staff in Kenya. She has also contributed significantly to integrating human rights into the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) decisions. Her proposals on human rights safeguards in biodiversity financing mechanisms were adopted by the CBD’s 193 Parties. Furthermore, she has served as an expert in policy support tools for the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

Committed to disseminating research insights broadly, her op-eds and articles have been featured in prominent platforms like The Conversation, the World Economic Forum, The Diplomat, and Inter Press Service News Agency. Living and working across Sweden, Mexico, Kenya, Japan, Canada, and the Peruvian and Ecuadorian Amazon has enriched her understanding of diverse cultural and environmental contexts with unique skills to catalyze research and action with international scope while being contextually relevant.

For further updates on her research, please refer to her Research profile:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Claudia-Ituarte-Lima

https://portal.research.lu.se/en/persons/claudia-ituarte-lima

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