Ana Elena Obando Mendoza is an international human rights lawyer who joined Equality Now in November 2021. She holds a Master’s degree in Gender and Justice from Arizona State University. She is currently the Legal Advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean. In this role, she writes legal technical documents to drive legal and systemic reforms that enhance access to justice for women and girls across the region. She has co-authored key legal documents, such as the Guide for Legislating on Sexual Violence: Consent-Based Approach (in collaboration with ParlAmericas), the Regional Bolivian Guidelines for Judges on Applying International Standards on Sexual Violence, and several amicus curiae briefs submitted to high courts in Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, and Brazil.
Ana Elena plays a central role in strategic planning, implementation, and progress monitoring of legal initiatives. She also trains legislators and judges on the application of legal tools and has represented Equality Now in various regional coalitions and advocacy spaces within the Organization of American States (OAS) and the United Nations (UN).
Ana Elena brings over 40 years of experience as a feminist activist, academic, researcher, and independent consultant, having worked with international organizations, UN agencies, and regional mechanisms. Notably, she served as Latin America’s gender legal advisor to the Working Group that developed the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). She also played a key role in drafting the gender provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as the Latin American Focal Point for the Women’s Caucus for Gender Justice.
Ana Elena has published and spoken extensively on gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive rights, public policy, institutional discrimination, peace, and gender war crimes at major conferences across Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe. As a former member of the Steering Committee of Women’s Rights Action Watch (Asia Pacific), she actively promoted the international campaign for the CEDAW Optional Protocol. While working with IPAS, Ana Elena helped establish and lead a diverse network of sexual and reproductive rights (SRR) organizations in Costa Rica focused on the social and legal decriminalization of abortion. This network is now preparing for the Fourth National Congress on Decriminalizing and Legalizing Abortion.
Ana Elena is known for her ability to maintain sustained engagement with key decision-makers across all three branches of government in various Latin American and Caribbean countries, effectively advancing legal reform and ensuring implementation. She draws inspiration from Angela Davis, who once said, «You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time.» Based in Costa Rica, Ana Elena is available for interviews in both Spanish and English.
Outside of her professional work, she enjoys growing her own fruits and vegetables, birdwatching, advocating for the rights of her local community, and reading about politics, philosophy, literature, and functional medicine.