Since the early 2000s, the Raoul Wallenberg Institute has been involved in human rights cooperation in Latin America. 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.
We have carried out activities both in Sweden and as well as in locations in Latin America. Our cooperation partners have, in particular, included the United Nations Latin American Institute for Crime Prevention and the Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD) and the Inter-American Institute for Human Rights (IIDH).
Through our cooperation in the region, we have addressed several key human rights issues. These include 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.
Currently, we are engaged in a cooperation project in Cuba focusing on developing capacities regarding clinical legal education as a means to increase access to justice. The initiative is part of the International Legal Assistance Consortium’s (ILAC) Cuba Programme, which is financially supported by Swedish Development Cooperation.
If you wish to learn more about our work in Latin America, please contact:
David Eile
David Eile currently works as a Senior Programme Officer responsible for various projects under RWI’s Europe Office, focusing on different forms of academic cooperation in Europe and Cuba. Since joining RWI in 2006, David worked with various human rights programmes in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. David has an MA in Anthropology from Lund University and is a doctoral candidate in Cultural Anthropology at the University of Uppsala.