Esmeralda Luiz Gonzales

Former Gender and Rights Adviser at UNFPA 

Esmeralda Ruiz Gonzàles is a lawyer from the National University of Colombia where she specialized in family law, gender and human rights. She holds a Master degree in public policies, evaluation and development. She also graduated in "Human Rights based approach", from the United Nations Training of Trainers School in Turin, Italy. She is currently the National Director of Crime Prevention and Conciliation in the Ministry of Justice and Law and First Deputy Defender for children and women in the Office of the Ombudsman. For 15 years she was responsible for the area of ​​gender, rights and violence at the UNFPA in Colombia, developing innovative initiatives for Latin America and the Caribbean such as work with the High Courts of Justice and the National Gender Commission of the Judicial Branch. Likewise, she worked on the project for the "Eradication of female genital mutilation in indigenous communities" among others. She has worked as a consultant for EUROSOCIAL and the Regional Office for South America of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in relation to the issues of equality, non-discrimination, gender, violence and rights, she has provided technical support to the judicial powers of Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia and Honduras, in the processes of incorporation and application of the principle of equality and non-discrimination and the gender approach in judicial decisions.