December 9, 2025, New York — Amnesty International has awarded the prestigious Ginetta Sagan Award to Jazmín Romero Epiayú, an Indigenous Wayuú leader, from La Guajira, Colombia.  The award recognizes her courageous advocacy on behalf of Wayuú girls and women in La Guajira, Colombia, and her leadership in protecting ancestral territories from extractive industries. 

As a legal representative of the Wayuú Feminist Movement of Girls and Women (MFNMW), Jazmin supports community efforts to confront structural violence, safeguard water and territory, and uphold the dignity and wellbeing of Wayuu women and girls. For her, this award is not simply an individual recognition but a collective tribute to generations of Wayuú resistance. 

“This award is also a living memorial to all our sisters and brothers, human rights defenders, who have been brutally killed by those who oppose our mission to protect water, life, and nature…Their struggles live through this award,” Jazmin said.

Over the past year, Dr. Luna Borges, Associate Research Scholar at the Human Rights Institute and Supervising Attorney at the Smith Family Human Rights Clinic, has been supporting Jazmín’s human rights activism.

“We congratulate Jazmín on this important award,” said Dr. Borges. “Jazmin’s advocacy for the rights and wellbeing of Wayuú women and girls is inseparable from her care for their territory, their bodies, and their futures.”

While Colombia joined other countries at COP30 calling for a “livable planet,” Colombian human rights defenders remain the most targeted by threats and killings in the Americas. In 2025, Jazmín began receiving direct threats from armed groups—yet she has not received state protection.

Through her leadership, Jazmín continues to build pathways for intergenerational justice grounded in ecofeminist perspectives, collective healing, and the defense of water, land, and life. To hear Jazmín speak about Wayuú resistance and the significance of this award, click here (in Spanish).

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The Human Rights Institute (HRI) advances international human rights through education, advocacy, fact-finding, research, scholarship, and critical reflection. HRI partners with advocates, communities, and organizations pushing for social change to strengthen human rights frameworks, promote accountability for rights violations, and build collective power