Advocating for an Inclusive Justice System for All Colombians

For years, public confidence in Colombia’s justice system has been troublingly low, particularly in rural areas that lack sufficient government presence. Citizens in these areas interact with a justice system that is unresponsive to their needs and has a limited capacity to meet local requirements. Opportunities to improve citizens’ trust in the justice system are…

Olga Ponamarova

Olga Ponamarova (she/her/hers) is a gender and social inclusion specialist with more than 10 years of experience in project management working with and within civil society organizations and humanitarian response and development projects in Ukraine. Olga has worked for the USAID-funded Democratic Governance East project as a gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) specialist contributing to…

Dr. Kenya Dugger

Dr. Kenya Dugger brings 21 years of experience in the Army and Department of Defense, and more than twelve years of experience working with executives and employees in the areas of global diversity and inclusion, data analysis, culture awareness, ethics and compliance, and human resources. Prior to his position at Chemonics, Kenya spent two years…

Cecilia Barraza

Cecilia Barraza is a Colombian GBV expert with 27 years of experience designing and implementing public policies to advance gender equity, improve access to justice, and reduce GBV. She currently serves as deputy chief of party on the USAID/Colombia Justice for Sustainable Peace project. Cecilia has served as an advisor on the Presidential Council for…

Reducing Crime and Restoring Trust in Mexico

In Mexico, crimes such as assaults, muggings, public disturbances, and robberies are frequent. Because local authorities often do not address these crimes, citizens lose trust in government and become reluctant to cooperate with law enforcement. This dynamic weakens the ability of the justice system to successfully investigate and prosecute crimes. The Violence Prevention and Reduction…

Countering Human Rights Violations in Mexico

For more than a decade, Mexico has experienced violence and insecurity fueled by transnational criminal organizations. The toll on civilians has been high, with more than 200,000 deaths since 2006, including targeted killings of more than 100 journalists and human rights defenders, and more than 9,000 documented cases of torture. To reduce impunity and help…

How USAID’s Solicitations and Resulting Awards Include Underrepresented Groups

The paper’s background section explains why the study focused on these four social groups and explores the diversity that exists across and within them. In addition, the paper examines whether it is effective to use the phrase “vulnerable groups” to refer to the collection of social groups that programming is intended to include. The paper…

Shauna Caria

Shauna Caria is the global practice lead for Chemonics’ Gender Equality and Social Inclusion practice. With over 10 years of international development experience in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, Central Asia, South Africa, and Eastern Europe, Shauna is an expert on disability inclusion, women’s empowerment, mainstreaming gender and social inclusion, combatting gender-based…

3 Questions with Angélica Medina: Breaking Social Inclusion Barriers in Colombia

Angélica Medina is the gender and vulnerable populations expert for the USAID Human Rights Activity (HRA) in Colombia. HRA responds to a history of human rights violations in Colombia by promoting a culture of human rights. Why is social inclusion important for the development of Colombia? Inequality in Colombia has largely overshadowed women’s progress to…

Kaelan Sullivan Fleury

Kaelan Sullivan Fleury (she/her/hers) is passionate about supporting inclusive workplaces, programs, and communities. She has 10 years of international development experience in gender and social inclusion integration, project management, operations, training, business development, and research. She currently serves as the Operations Director for Chemonics’ USG Business Line Support Division. In her prior role as the…

Ensuring Sustainable Peace in Colombia

In 2012, the government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) embarked on a peace process, which concluded successfully in 2016 and helped end fifty years of violent conflict. Since signing the peace agreement, the government has had to address the key challenge of ensuring that citizens in conflict-affected regions have access…