The Role of Women and Youth in Peace and Security in Latin America

Sep 21, 2023 | World Affairs Council of Western Michigan
Online and Piazza of the Wisner-Botrall Applied Technology Center (on the same floor of the Auditorium)
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In recent decades, Latin American countries are building more peaceful societies—but are still struggling to consolidate democratic principles while residual armed conflict, high levels of inequality, and political polarization remain. Women and youth are vital to the process of peacebuilding.  An International Peace Institute study of 182 signed peace agreements between 1989 and 2011 found that when women are included in peace processes, there is a 35 percent increase in the probability that a peace agreement will last 15 years or more.

Join us for a program that explores the importance and impact of women and youth in peacebuilding and peacemaking efforts in Latin America. Leading the conversation will be our special guest, Maria Antonia Montes, the Senior Program Officer for the Gandhi-King Global Academy and the Nonviolent Action team at USIP.

Montes leads USIP’s technical efforts in Latin America , specifically focusing on Colombia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia. In her current role, Montes leads USIP’s Synergizing Nonviolent Action and Peacebuilding (SNAP) program in Latin America, as well as its Participatory Action Research (PAR) in Colombia. Montes has worked with USIP’s regional teams on comparative peace processes, process design, implementation, and mechanisms for the inclusion of women, religious actors, and youth inclusion in peace processes. She formerly led USIP’s Citizen Security Dialogues Project in Colombia funded by USAID/Colombia and co-led the development of USIP’s Latin America Regional Center.

Prior to joining USIP, Montes taught English as a second language to university students at Universidad Minuto de Dios (Bogotá). She has an undergraduate degree in Political Science and Latin American studies from Wake Forest University and a graduate specialization degree in Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Bogotá).

A reception and networking event will begin at 6 PM, in the Piazza of the Wisner-Botrall Applied Technology Center (on the same floor of the Auditorium).

The event will be livestreamed and archived—to access the livestream/archive, please register and a link to view the program will be emailed to you.