Lisa Haugaard
Executive Director, Latin America Working Group, LAWG (website)
email: lisah [at] lawg [dot] org
phone: (202) 546-7010
Executive Director, Latin America Working Group, LAWG (website)
email: lisah [at] lawg [dot] org
phone: (202) 546-7010
Latin America | security assistance | harm to civilians
Lisa Haugaard, Executive Director of the Latin America Working Group, has led advocacy efforts on human rights issues and U.S. policy towards Latin America for a coalition of human rights, faith, labor and nongovernmental groups for over 20 years. Ms. Haugaard collaborated with Colombian human rights groups to document, denounce and demand accountability for escalating extrajudicial executions, a collective effort that resulted in a dramatic drop in new abuses and hundreds of cases shifting from military to civilian courts. She has participated in international verification missions on human rights defenders, election monitoring and migrant rights. Ms. Haugaard has testified before and headlined briefings in the U.S. Congress, addressed press conferences and led workshops in Latin America, and conducted advocacy at all levels of the State and Defense Departments, USAID, Southern Command and Congress.
She is the author of numerous reports on Latin America issues. Ms. Haugaard serves as a juror for the National Human Rights Prize for Colombia and the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award. She completed PhD exams in Political Science at Columbia University, a Master's in Latin American Studies from New York University, and a BA in English and Latin American literature with High Honors from Swarthmore College, and was a recipient of Fulbright and MacArthur fellowships.
Recent Publications:
Lisa Haugaard, Executive Director of the Latin America Working Group, has led advocacy efforts on human rights issues and U.S. policy towards Latin America for a coalition of human rights, faith, labor and nongovernmental groups for over 20 years. Ms. Haugaard collaborated with Colombian human rights groups to document, denounce and demand accountability for escalating extrajudicial executions, a collective effort that resulted in a dramatic drop in new abuses and hundreds of cases shifting from military to civilian courts. She has participated in international verification missions on human rights defenders, election monitoring and migrant rights. Ms. Haugaard has testified before and headlined briefings in the U.S. Congress, addressed press conferences and led workshops in Latin America, and conducted advocacy at all levels of the State and Defense Departments, USAID, Southern Command and Congress.
She is the author of numerous reports on Latin America issues. Ms. Haugaard serves as a juror for the National Human Rights Prize for Colombia and the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award. She completed PhD exams in Political Science at Columbia University, a Master's in Latin American Studies from New York University, and a BA in English and Latin American literature with High Honors from Swarthmore College, and was a recipient of Fulbright and MacArthur fellowships.
Recent Publications:
- "Guatemala's Downward Spiral," Latin America Working Group, the Washington Office on Latin America, and the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA, October 2022.
- "Under Assault in Guatemala: Journalists & Indigenous & Human Rights Activists," Latin America Working Group, October 2022.
- "When the Dominoes Fall: Cooptation of the Justice System in Guatemala," Latin America Working Group, October 2022.
- "Duque y Biden: lo que faltaba en esta imagen," El Espectador, March 14, 2022.
- "A Chance to Right U.S. Wrongs in Honduras," El Faro, March 8, 2022.
- “Protect Colombia’s Peace,” Latin America Working Group Education Fund, Washington Office on Latin America, Oxfam, Coordinación Colombia Europa Estados Unidos, et al, July 2020.
- “Serve Your People: A Roadmap for Transforming Relations between the United States and the Northern Countries of Central America,” Latin America Working Group Education Fund, KIND, Oxfam, Climate Refugees, Church World Service, and Washington Office on Latin America, July 2020.
- “Testimony before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, Hearing on Human Rights and Corruption in Honduras,” Latin America Working Group Education Fund, December 11, 2019.
- "A Wake-Up Call: Colombia’s Peace at Risk," Latin America Working Group, October 2019.