Ethnicity, Gender and Citizenship
Despite social progress and economic advancement in recent years, different forms of social exclusion persist in Peru, which limit the access to development resources for indigenous peoples and Peruvians of African descent. These communities’ ability to fully realize their social, economic, and civil rights is in turn severely diminished. Along with these forms of social exclusion, various mores and institutions of Peruvian society perpetuate other types of social inequalities based on gender and have resulted in unequal opportunities for men and women in our country.
Both forms of inequality have structural roots that not only manifest themselves in civic and economic life, but also find expression in daily acts of discrimination and violence (physical and symbolic).
In this context, GRADE has produced a corpus of studies that explores the multiple dimensions of these forms of social inequality. The studies seek, above all, to bring these problems to the fore by measuring the magnitude of their impact on society, and in turn, we have created a resource for data and analysis that responds to these inequalities.
Building on these studies, we have begun to explore both the causes and consequences of these forms of exclusion, discrimination, and violence. We additionally conduct advocy with the state to incorporate solutions to these issues into its public policy agenda, and we likewise consult on the design of these policy resolutions..
Senior Researchers
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María Balarin Bonazzi
PhD en Educational Policy - University of Bath
María Balarin is a Senior Researcher at the Group for the Analysis of Development (GRADE) in Peru. Her research explores the political economy of education reform and educational justice in the Global South, with a particular focus on gender dynamics and socioeconomic exclusion. She has examined how state weakness shapes education reforms, the processes of […]
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Martín Benavides Abanto (on leave)
PhD en Sociology - Pennsylvania State University
Martín Benavides has a PhD in Sociology from Pennsylvania State University where he also attained a Master’s Degree in Education Policy. He has a degree in Sociology and a BA in Sociology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, and has been a visiting student on issues of social mobility and inequality at Nuffield College […]
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Juan León Jara-Almonte
PhD en - Pennsylvania State University
Juan has a PhD in Educational Theory and Policy and Comparative & International Education from Pennsylvania State University. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences with mention in Economics from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Currently, he is a Senior Researcher at GRADE. His research interests are inequality in education, intercultural bilingual education, early […]
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Vanessa Rojas Arangoitia
PhD en - Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona
Vanessa holds a PhD in Sociology from Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. She has a degree in Anthropology and a Master’s degree in Political Science from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. Her work has focused on the anthropology of education and childhood, addressing issues of educational transitions, child welfare, educational quality and power relations. During 2012, she […]
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Martín Valdivia Huaringa
PhD en Applied Economics - University of Minnesota
Martin Valdivia has a PhD in Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota. He has worked as a Senior Researcher at GRADE since 1993. His fields of interest include entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, rural development and more recently democratic governance, with publications in journals such as the Review of Economics and Statistics, the Journal of Development […]
Associated Researchers
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Néstor Valdivia Vargas
PhD candidate en Sociology - El Colegio de México
Néstor Valdivia is studying for a PhD in Sociology at El Colegio de México and holds a degree in Sociology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. He is currently an Associate Researcher at GRADE in the fields of poverty and equality, education, the labor market and human development. He has worked on development and […]
External Consultants
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Paulo César Carrasco Fernández
Degree en - Pedro Ruíz Gallo National University
Paulo holds a Degree in Sociology from the National University Pedro Ruiz Gallo in Lambayeque and is a member of the Professional Board of Sociologists in Peru (Colegio de Sociólogos del Perú). Currently he is a Field Supervisor of the Childhood, Violence and Development Project funded by Bernard van Leer Foundation.
Publications
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Implementación de un programa piloto para el fortalecimiento de organización(es) que lideran iniciativas de cuidados comunitarios en territorios periurbanos de Cartagena, Bolívar.
2025 Daniela Casanova, Laura Gómez, Natalia Moreno, Katherine Lozano
Se desarrolló una investigación-acción participativa orientada a apoyar organizaciones mayoritariamente lideradas por mujeres que impulsan iniciativas de cuidado comunitario. La finalidad fue identificar estrategias que, desde el Sistema Nacional de Cuidado, permitan visibilizar las necesidades y desigualdades de las cuidadoras y fortalecer estas organizaciones en contextos periurbanos en Cartagena. El programa incorporó tres ejes estratégicos: […]
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Promoting gender justice in care for older people in poor communities in Brazil: The case of the Elder Care Program.
2025 Peter Lloyd-Sherlock, Karla Giacomin
This report presents an overview and the main findings of the study “Promoting Gender Justice in Care for Older People in Poor Brazilian Communities,” carried out by the Brazilian Care Association (Frente Cuidadosa) in collaboration with the Social Assistance and Human Rights Secretariat and the Health Secretariat of the Municipality of Belo Horizonte between June […]
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Promover la justicia de género en la atención a las personas mayores en comunidades pobres de Brasil: El caso del Programa de Cuidados Mayores.
2025 Peter Lloyd-Sherlock , Karla Giacomin
Este informe presenta una visión general y los principales hallazgos del estudio “Promoción de la justicia de género en la atención a las personas mayores en comunidades brasileñas pobres”, realizado por la Asociación Brasileña de Cuidados (Frente Cuidadosa) en colaboración con las Secretarías de Asistencia Social y Derechos Humanos y de la Salud de la […]
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Socio-educational inclusion scholarship program in Uruguay: Evaluating the Triple Dividend of Investment in Childcare.
2026 Soledad Salvador, Cecilia Lara, Valentina Ríos
Within this framework, the Socio-educational Inclusion Scholarship (BIS) program was developed, aiming to help expand and strengthen the provision of childcare and early education by granting scholarships for daily care to children aged 0 to 3 from families who are part of any Family Support program of MIDES or INAU. This program is based on […]
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Programa de becas de inclusión socioeducativa en Uruguay: Evaluando el triple dividendo de la inversión en cuidado infantil.
2026 Soledad Salvador, Cecilia Lara, Valentina Ríos
En ese marco se gestó el programa Becas de Inclusión Socioeducativa (BIS) que busca contribuir en la ampliación y consolidación de la oferta de cuidados y educación infantil, mediante el otorgamiento de becas para el cuidado diario a infancias de 0 a 3 años de familias que integran algún programa de Acompañamiento Familiar del MIDES […]
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Panorama de los programas de visitas domiciliarias en América Latina y el Caribe
2024
The Inter-American Dialogue and UNICEF present this study as a contribution to strengthening the early childhood care and development agenda in the region. Through a cross-sectional analysis and comparison of the design and implementation of home visiting programmes in ten countries in the region, the study seeks to provide a characterisation of these programmes, highlighting […]
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The effects of the covid-19 pandemic on the subjective well-being of rural and urban young people in Peru
2024
This report is a summary of a longer report published in Spanish and available on the Niños del Milenio website here. Niños del Milenio/Young Lives has followed children through to young adulthood in Peru, including understanding how their perceptions of their well-being have changed over time. Using qualitative data from 2 birth cohorts, aged 21- 22 […]
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¿A costa de qué?: el estado de emergencia en el Callao y su impacto de corto y largo plazo sobre la seguridad ciudadana, la violencia familiar y el bienestar social
2024
In Peru, the declaration of a state of emergency (EE) has become a common and widely requested public policy measure to address the crime problem. Recently, the government declared the EE in several districts, including San Juan de Lurigancho and San Martin de Porres in Lima, and Sullana in Piura (DS 105-2023-PCM) (El Comercio, 25/9/2023), […]
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Unveiling barriers to women’s access to decent work in Peru
2024
Peru suffers from a serious gender inequality problem in the labor market that cannot be understood by considering employment rates alone. Rather, it is also necessary to analyze the conditions under which women participate in the labor market. This study seeks to identify economic, legal, and socio-cultural barriers that women face in accessing decent employment. […]
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Edutainment, savings, and generational differences in rural areas of Peru
2023
We wrote, produced, and implemented a randomized five-episode soap opera on financial inclusion targeted to women from poor, rural areas ravaged by terrorism in Peru. We go beyond measuring attitudes and perceptions but observe actual savings accounts using bank data. Older women, those who directly suffered from terrorist violence, respond very well and save more […]
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JournalEconomía & Sociedad
Propuestas de reformas para la integración laboral de la población migrante venezolana en el Perú
2023
El mayor nivel de desempleo y precariedad laboral que experimentan los migrantes venezolanos, en comparación con la población local, se debe a distintas barreras que enfrentan para participar en el mercado de trabajo. Facilitar la regularización migratoria, retirar limitaciones para que micro y pequeñas empresas contraten extranjeros, expandir los servicios públicos de empleo para que […]
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JournalJournal of Health Economics
A drop of love? Rainfall shocks and spousal abuse: Evidence from rural Peru
2023
We investigate whether exposure to rainfall shocks affects the experience of physical intimate partner violence (P-IPV) among women in rural areas of the Peruvian Andes. Using data from the Demographic and Health Surveys over 2005–2014, we track changes in the probability that a woman experiences recent instances of P-IPV after being exposed to a rainfall […]
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JournalEconomic Development and Cultural Change
(Un)Conditional love in the time of conditional cash transfers: the effect of the Peruvian JUNTOS program on spousal abuse
2022
Cash transfer programs often target women as the recipient of the money. Unintentionally, this flow of unearned income may reduce spousal abuse. We investigate this possibility by assessing the Peruvian JUNTOS program. We exploit the staggered timing in the rollout of the program across municipalities along with its eligibility rule for determining participation to perform […]
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JournalAnxiety and Stress
Fear of COVID-19 Scale: Adaptation and psychometric properties in Peruvian population
2021
Current context caused by COVID-19 has changed social and day-to-day life worldwide. Mental health is no exception. The objective of this study was to adapt and analyze the psychometric properties of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) in a sample of Peruvian professionals.
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JournalCriminology & Criminal Justice
Does context matter? Examining robbery reporting in a high crime country
2021
Most empirical studies that examine why individuals report property crimes to the police have focused on Global North countries where crime rates are low. This study is situated in the most violent area of the world, Latin America, and examines Peru, which has the highest robbery victimization rate in the Americas. This article examines the […]
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Breaking the Silence. Why do Young Women in Peru Marry or Cohabit at a Young Age, and What are the Consequences?
Dreaming of a Better Life Child Marriage Through Adolescent Eyes2020
On the basis of qualitative data, the chapter shows how different factors lead young women to start cohabitation or marriage before adulthood. Through the experiences of three women who began cohabitation before the age of 18 in Peru, the authors show what life is like for them, the inequities in the power relations they face […]
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Criminal Legalities in the Global South. Cultural Dynamics, Political Tensions, and Institutional Practices
Criminal Legalities in the Global South: Cultural dynamics, political tensions and institutional practices2019
In Peru, corruption is widespread. Under the intention of addressing the problem of corruption, the justice system reacted by creating a specialized sub judicial system, which accompanied the introduction of a new Criminal Procedure Code that allowed less bureaucratic oral criminal proceedings. While these changes promised justice and efficiency, in this chapter it is argued […]
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Oportunidades y barreras en la trayectoria de las científicas sociales peruanas
Desigualdad en la academia: mujeres en las ciencias sociales2018
This chapter is part of these efforts and is the result of the Grupo Sofía’s agenda, which aims to deepen the analysis of the disparities between women’s and men’s experiences in the academic labour market in the social sciences. Specifically, we analyse the opportunities and barriers faced by Peruvian women social scientists during their academic […]
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El entorno de la investigación social en el Perú
Desigualdad en la academia: mujeres en las ciencias sociales2018
In Peru there are important coincidences with the findings of this literature, but there are also particularities that can be explained by what we can describe as the precarious environment in which academic research is developed in the country, an environment that deepens some gender inequalities that are also raised in this book.
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¿Cómo abordar el estudio de las inequidades de género en el mundo académico?
Desigualdad en la academia: mujeres en las ciencias sociales2018
This first chapter seeks to situate readers of this book in this shared conceptual approach to the problem of gender inequalities in academia. To this, we present a brief discussion of how we approach regimes of inequality in academia and research, and the main contributions of the international literature on how differences between women and […]
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Implementación de un programa piloto para el fortalecimiento de organización(es) que lideran iniciativas de cuidados comunitarios en territorios periurbanos de Cartagena, Bolívar.
2025
Se desarrolló una investigación-acción participativa orientada a apoyar organizaciones mayoritariamente lideradas por mujeres que impulsan iniciativas de cuidado comunitario. La finalidad fue identificar estrategias que, desde el Sistema Nacional de Cuidado, permitan visibilizar las necesidades y desigualdades de las cuidadoras y fortalecer estas organizaciones en contextos periurbanos en Cartagena. El programa incorporó tres ejes estratégicos: […]
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Promoting gender justice in care for older people in poor communities in Brazil: The case of the Elder Care Program.
2025
This report presents an overview and the main findings of the study “Promoting Gender Justice in Care for Older People in Poor Brazilian Communities,” carried out by the Brazilian Care Association (Frente Cuidadosa) in collaboration with the Social Assistance and Human Rights Secretariat and the Health Secretariat of the Municipality of Belo Horizonte between June […]
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Promover la justicia de género en la atención a las personas mayores en comunidades pobres de Brasil: El caso del Programa de Cuidados Mayores.
2025
Este informe presenta una visión general y los principales hallazgos del estudio “Promoción de la justicia de género en la atención a las personas mayores en comunidades brasileñas pobres”, realizado por la Asociación Brasileña de Cuidados (Frente Cuidadosa) en colaboración con las Secretarías de Asistencia Social y Derechos Humanos y de la Salud de la […]
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Socio-educational inclusion scholarship program in Uruguay: Evaluating the Triple Dividend of Investment in Childcare.
2026
Within this framework, the Socio-educational Inclusion Scholarship (BIS) program was developed, aiming to help expand and strengthen the provision of childcare and early education by granting scholarships for daily care to children aged 0 to 3 from families who are part of any Family Support program of MIDES or INAU. This program is based on […]
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Programa de becas de inclusión socioeducativa en Uruguay: Evaluando el triple dividendo de la inversión en cuidado infantil.
2026
En ese marco se gestó el programa Becas de Inclusión Socioeducativa (BIS) que busca contribuir en la ampliación y consolidación de la oferta de cuidados y educación infantil, mediante el otorgamiento de becas para el cuidado diario a infancias de 0 a 3 años de familias que integran algún programa de Acompañamiento Familiar del MIDES […]
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Towards an inclusive and sustainable development in Latin America: dialogue between research and public policies
2016
Esta publicación es resultado del seminario internacional Hacia un Desarrollo Inclusivo y Sostenible en América Latina: Diálogos entre Investigación y Políticas Públicas, organizado por el Grupo de Análisis para el Desarrollo (GRADE) y el Instituto de Estudios Peruanos (IEP), el 25 y 26 de junio de 2014. Representa un esfuerzo de recopilación de lo más relevante y valioso […]
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Measuring the sustainable development agenda in Peru
2016
In 2012, the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development pledged that governments will propose a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the post-2015 period. The SDGs – agreed to in September 2015 – replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which expire in the same year. The SDGs take into consideration positive experiences from the MDGs and […]
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En cancha ajena: la participación ciudadana a través de los Consejos Nacionales
2015
The main objective of this research is to analyze their institutional models as well as to reflect on the role played by citizen participation as a factor of democratic governance through the National Councils.
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Estudio Especializado sobre Población Afroperuana (EEPA)
2015Martín Benavides, Juan Leon,
Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.
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América Latina hacia la inclusión social. Avances, aprendizajes y desafíos
2014, , , , , Gerardo Damonte, Manuel Glave, , , ,
Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.
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(Un)Conditional Love in the Time of Conditional Cash Transfers: The Effect of the Peruvian JUNTOS Program on Spousal Abuse
2020
Cash Transfer programs often target women as the recipient of the money. Unintentionally, this flow of unearned income may reduce spousal abuse. Researchers investigate this possibility by assessing the Peruvian JUNTOS program. They exploit the staggered timing in the rollout of the program across municipalities along with its eligibility rule for determining participation to perform a difference-in-differences […]
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Prevalencia de delitos en la población penal peruana: desorganización social versus aprendizaje social
2018
The aim of the study is to identify the main factors that influence a person commits a type of crime. We will focus on two theories: social learning and social disorganization, comparing each other to determine which one is more important. A second objective is to study how crime’s main drivers and gender relate to […]
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Derechos humanos y gobernabilidad democrática: oportunidades para la cooperación canadiense en el Perú
2009
This study has two central objectives. The first is to offer an overview of the human rights situation in the country, and of the public policies that protect and promote them. In particular, attention has been paid to the scenarios related to the transitional justice process (in terms of the guidelines of the Truth and […]
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Procesos y productos de justicia transicional: los aportes de la Comisión de la Verdad y la Reconciliación a la transición peruana
2008
This paper attempts, in the first place, to situate itself within an emerging theoretical perspective, derived from legal sociology, the so-called sociology of human rights. Its main characteristic is to approach human rights as social phenomena, analyzing their genesis, formation and positioning in the public agenda as moral, legal and political demands. Specifically, we will […]
Projects
- Community participation in the prevention of gender-based violence: The case of the Red de Lideresas Justa of the Justa Project, Villa El Salvador for Justice and Equality of the UNDPNovember 2020
- SMS against violence during the pandemicNovember 2020
- Social protection and indigenous peoplesSeptember 2020
- Analysis of the PNUD gender salary gapSeptember 2020
- The coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the economic autonomy of womenApril 2020
- Access to the educational system: Factors that facilitate or limit access to migrant children and adolescentsDecember 2019
- Indicators for the Results-Oriented Budget Program on violence against womenDecember 2019
- Mainstreaming information gathering on ethnicity to improve minority access to education: the case of Afro-descendant girlsSeptember 2019
- Factors associated with partner violence against women: a departmental approach based on patterns of victimizationJune 2019
- Evaluation of the police intervention against complaints of violence against women: Experimental evaluation of the Home Visitation Program of the National Police of PeruJune 2019
News
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Wilson Hernández: “The conviction to leave the criminal life is often not natural, but activated by triggers”
October 25, 2024 Ethnicity, gender and citizenship
“The conviction to leave the criminal life is often not natural, but is usually activated by triggers. According to studies, one may be getting a stable job. Another is getting married or having children and starting to think not only for oneself, but also for others. Another is taking away leisure time from teenagers in […]
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International Day of the Girl: selection of recent free access titles
October 11, 2024 Education and learning, Ethnicity, gender and citizenship, State reform and public institutions
Las experiencias de las niñas en sus propias vidas muestran la importancia de proporcionar entornos seguros, no violentos, inclusivos y eficaces hacia un futuro en el que puedan desarrollar todo su potencial. En el Día Internacional de la Niña, compartimos algunos títulos recientes de nuestras investigadores e investigadores. Varios de estos estudios muestran que, a […]
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Ojo Público reports Wilson Hernández’s thoughts on the insecurity crisis on the streets
October 9, 2024 Ethnicity, gender and citizenship
Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.
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Wilson Hernandez shares his opinion on the urban terrorism bill. Via Epicentro TV
October 7, 2024 Ethnicity, gender and citizenship
“Between the extreme measures there is a large gray space where we can move with more clever proposals. It is there where police intelligence has a much better chance of being able to identify groups linked to extortion and dismantle them”. Our Adjunct Researcher Wilson Hernández talked to journalist Daniel Yovera of Epicentro TV about […]
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Wilson Hernandez shares his thoughts on the new state of emergency declared by the government
September 30, 2024 Ethnicity, gender and citizenship
Once the emergency measure ends, “crime returns to normal”, according to Wilson Hernandez, Adjunct Researcher at GRADE, regarding the new state of emergency declared by the government to address citizen insecurity. Wilson is one of the authors of the study ¿A costa de qué?: Impacto de corto y mediano plazo de los estados de emergencia […]
Events
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Vanessa Rojas attends the CELAC-Africa High-Level Forum in Colombia 2026
18/03/2026 → 19/03/2026 Bogotá, Colombia Ethnicity, gender and citizenship
Our Senior Researcher and co-coordinator of the Collaborative Action Research Fund, Vanessa Rojas, is in Bogotá to attend the CELAC-African Countries Forum and Complementary Agenda, organized by Colombia’s Ministry of Equality and Equity. The event aim to connect the experiences accumulated in Colombia, as the recent progress in developing a National Care Policy, and within […]
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Lorena Alcázar will be a speaker at a UNRISD event on the role of care systems in poverty eradication and social justice in LAC
04/02/2026 10:00 am - 11:00 am Zoom Ethnicity, gender and citizenship, Poverty and equality
Although care is increasingly recognized as a fundamental pillar of social development, significant challenges remain in how care and support systems are conceived, discussed, and implemented in poverty eradication and social justice agendas. In the context of the 64th session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD64), UNRISD brings together experts, policymakers, and civil society […]
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GRADE researchers participate in the 2025 Southern Voice conference
27/10/2025 → 28/10/2025 Sao Paulo, Brasil Ethnicity, gender and citizenship
Our Senior Researchers Lorena Alcázar, Gabriela Guerrero, and Vanessa Rojas are in São Paulo to participate in the Southern Voice Network Conference. Today, Vanessa took part in a parallel session that addressed the interconnected dimensions of gender, economic, and racial inequality. This afternoon, Lorena will participate in a parallel session focused on creating a fair, […]
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Vanessa Rojas joined a peer learning workshop on gender-transformative care systems and policies – W20
10/10/2025 9:00 am - 5:30 pm Johannesburgo, Sudáfrica Ethnicity, gender and citizenship
On October 10, our principal investigator Vanessa Rojas participated in a South-South peer learning workshop on gender-transformative care systems and policies. This session was held in the run-up to the Women20 Summit in South Africa. The meeting was organized by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Global Alliance for Care, in partnership with […]
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Wilson Hernández will be discuss the role of STI in the fight against citizen insecurity
19/06/2025 9:00 am Auditorio SENCICO (Av. De la Poesía 351, San Borja) Ethnicity, gender and citizenship
Our Adjunct Researcher Wilson Hernández will be one of the speakers at an upcoming international symposium on the role of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in the fight against citizen insecurity. The event, organized by the National Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (Concytec), aims to generate key tools in the fight against organized crime […]
- Education and Learning
- Employment, Productivity and Innovation
- Rural Development and Agriculture
- Ethnicity, Gender and Citizenship
- Methodologies for Research and Evaluation of Policy and Programmes
- Poverty and Equity
- Natural Resources, Extractive Industries and Social Conflict
- State Reform and Public Institutions
- Health and Nutrition
- Urbanization and Sustainable Cities






