Marcela Lopez

As Advocacy Officer for Latin America and the Caribbean Marcela Lopez is responsible for identifying opportunities for advocacy in addressing child, early and forced marriage and unions (CEFMU), and accompanying member organisations in developing and implementing advocacy strategies at all levels – local, national and regional – and monitoring national and regional public policies that contribute to addressing CEFMU in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Marcela is a feminist activist and human rights defender, with a strong commitment to social transformations that promote a better quality of life for girls and adolescents. She has more than 15 years of experience working in advocacy for the sexual and reproductive rights of girls, adolescents and young women in El Salvador. She also has extensive experience in generating spaces to work with public institutions to formulate and update public policies on gender and youth, and has extensive experience in the design and facilitation of training processes on gender-based violence, feminism, advocacy, and sexual and reproductive rights.

Prior to joining Girls Not Brides, Marcela collaborated at the national level with Asociación Ameyalli, the Passionist Social Service, the Inter-American Development Bank through a grant with the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Labour in El Salvador. She has also worked at the regional level with the feminist networks REDlac and Sombrilla Centroamericana.

Marcela has a specialisation in Human Rights and Advocacy and a degree in Sociology.