She was previously the Rapporteur on “Violent Land Seizures and Peasant Resistance” for the Historical Memory Group of the National Commission on Reparations and Reconciliation and has served as a Gender Adviser to UNHCR and a Programme Officer on Peace and Security for UNIFEM (now UNWomen). She has also coordinated an IDRC-supported research project on Access to Justice for Indigenous and Peasant Women in Colombia and Guatemala. Dr. Meertens is co-founder to the School for Gender Studies at National University of Colombia.