Democracies are built with women and young people: Equality Now at the 56th OAS General Assembly

From 22 to 24 June 2026, representatives of governments from across the Americas, inter-American mechanisms and civil society organisations will gather in Panama City to participate in the 56th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS). The theme of this year’s Assembly is: “Firm Multilateralism in Defence of Democracy, Hemispheric Security and Stability in the Member States”.

Beyond its intergovernmental nature, the General Assembly is a strategic space for feminist and civil society organisations: a forum in which to monitor States’ commitments, advance regional priorities and strengthen collective advocacy around the rights of women, girls, adolescents and young people.

For Equality Now and our regional partners, it is a key opportunity to bring to the inter-American level the persistent challenges faced by women, girls, adolescents and young people across Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly gender-based violence in its many forms, including online violence. The presence of feminist and civil society organisations in this space is essential to ensure that these realities, which are experienced directly within communities, are reflected in regional discussions and decision-making on human rights.

Our priorities: What are we here to achieve?

Equality Now comes to the 56th General Assembly with a diverse delegation of young activists and experts on access to justice in cases of sexual violence and technology-facilitated gender-based violence. We seek to contribute to a regional agenda for gender-balanced democracy, substantive equality and political participation free from violence, both online and offline, while incorporating the voices of young people and feminist movements already driving change across the region.

Specifically, our priorities are to:

• Strengthen the participation of the OAS Coalition for the Human Rights of Adolescents and Young People,coordinated by the Latin American and Caribbean Women’s Health Network and Equality Now, as a key actor in political advocacy and support its recognition within the OAS framework and related institutions.
• Amplify the role of our partners as key actors in defending the rights of women, girls, adolescents and young people by highlighting their backgrounds, community-based experience, proposals and intersectional perspectives in political dialogue spaces, side events and communications activities.
• Connect local struggles with regional agendas, recognising that violence, barriers to accessing justice and limitations on equal participation require coordinated responses.
• Strengthen the Civil Society Belem do Pará Coalition—a space where organisations, networks and alliances from across the region share experiences, identify emerging concerns and build common priorities around the violence agenda—particularly the work of one of its central pillars: advancing responses to gender-based violence in digital environments that integrate prevention, access to justice, comprehensive reparations and active civil society participation.

Equality Now at the General Assembly

During this period, we will participate in a range of activities connected to the 56th OAS General Assembly, including preparatory meetings, side events, advocacy initiatives and political strategy discussions. Below are some of the key moments.

Preparatory coordination: Building collective advocacy

Ahead of the Assembly, together with regional networks, alliances and coalitions, we have promoted preparatory spaces aimed at strengthening regional coordination, civil society participation and shared advocacy strategies in advance of decision-making processes at the Assembly.

This process has also sought to highlight how the inequalities and violence affecting women, adolescent girls, young people and girls are taking on new forms in digital environments. Technology-facilitated gender-based violence, together with other challenges related to participation, security, economic conditions and access to rights, underscores the need for comprehensive responses that strengthen autonomy, protect the public voices of civil society and expand its capacity to influence the regional agenda.

Strategy and advocacy spaces

• Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 June: At the invitation of the LGBTQ+ Coalition, we will participate through the Coalition for the Human Rights of Adolescents and Young People of the Americas in political strategy, advocacy and position-setting spaces ahead of the OAS General Assembly.
• Sunday 21 June: We will support the activities of the Follow-up Mechanism to the Belém do Pará Convention (MESECVI) related to strengthening the implementation of the Belém do Pará Convention in matters concerning children and adolescents.

Side events

Civil society workshop on online violence against women, girls and adolescents

• Organised by: Belém do Pará Coalition
• Led by: Equality Now, CLADEM and Defensoras Digitales 
• Date and time: Sunday 21 June, 3:00 pm–6:00 pm
• Location: Panama City (venue to be confirmed)
• Registration: https://forms.gle/SE9Lk9nK4XayW2bq8
  Capacity is limited, and all applications will be individually reviewed and assessed.
• About: A regional space to continue building a shared position on the challenges and concerns that should be considered in advocacy efforts related to online violence against women, girls, adolescents and young people. The workshop seeks to connect organisations and individuals engaged in this agenda, share experiences and advocacy strategies, and strengthen networks to advance comprehensive regional responses.

Violence-free gender-balanced democracy: Progress and challenges in implementing the Inter-American Model Laws on Parity, Political Violence and Digital Violence Against Women

• Organised by: CLADEM, Diakonia, MESECVI, Equality Now, UN Women and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
• Date and time: Monday 22 June, 8:30 am–12:00 pm
• Location: Tactic 4 Room, Aloft Hotel, Vía Israel & Calle 76 Este, Panama
• About: This event seeks to strengthen the implementation of inter-American standards on violence against women in political life and technology-facilitated gender-based violence through a multi-stakeholder regional dialogue that brings together evidence, practical experience and commitments aimed at advancing gender-balanced democracies free from violence.

Regional youth dialogue: Young people, democracy and ciolence-free political participation in Latin America

• Organised by: Coalition for the Human Rights of Adolescents and Young People of the Americas (led by Equality Now and the Latin American and Caribbean Women’s Health Network), CLADEM, Diakonia and allied youth organisations
• Date and time: 23 June, 9:00 am–12:00 pm 
• Location: Panama City (venue to be confirmed)
• About: This event seeks to create a youth-led regional dialogue space to reflect on current challenges to democracy, political participation and equality in Latin America, and to identify proposals and shared messages that contribute to a youth agenda for a gender-balanced, inclusive and violence-free democracy.

Bridging the future: Generations and leadership for equality

• Organised by: Inter-American Commission of Women, Specialized University of the Americas, Coalition for the Human Rights of Adolescents and Young People of the Americas
• Supported by: Government of Canada
• Date and time: 23 June, 2:30 pm–4:30 pm
• Location: Marriott Hotel Panama
• About: This event is designed to facilitate exchange between different generations and leadership profiles. The discussion will explore, from distinct yet complementary perspectives, issues related to women’s leadership, current challenges to equality, the role of social media in shaping public narratives and the importance of strengthening intergenerational connections to sustain and expand progress achieved in rights and inclusion.

At the OAS General Assembly

On Monday 22 June, as co-coordinators of the Coalition for the Human Rights of Adolescents and Young People of the Americas, we will participate in the Dialogue between Heads of Delegation, the Secretary General, the Assistant Secretary General and representatives of civil society, workers, the private sector and other social actors.

Our delegation

We are proud to participate in this Assembly alongside a network of regional partners, including organisations such as Ciberwarmis and Defensoras Digitales. They bring to the regional level concrete demands shaped by their territories and communities, including access to justice in cases of sexual and gender-based violence, the right to live free from violence in digital environments and equal political participation.

At Equality Now, we will continue building alliances and promoting reforms so that the right to live free from violence—including in digital environments—ceases to be merely an aspiration and becomes a concrete commitment undertaken by States across the region.

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