About Us

The name of our organization pays tribute to Belén Ríos who during her professional life was a prominent leader in the field of social justice, with a special emphasis in the field of health and human rights.

Belén began her career in human rights at the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), where she first completed professional practice and then worked in a free legal aid clinic in a disadvantaged neighborhood in the city of Buenos Aires. That experience and her connections with other young lawyers interested in public interest legal work led her to co-found the Centro para una Justicia Igualitaria y Popular (CEJIP) and become its first president. CEJIP is a nonprofit organization working to ensure access to justice and to promote human rights in the same neighborhood where Belén started her career.

Belén devoted a significant part of her career as a lawyer and an activist to advancing the right to health through the prevention of noncommunicable diseases. She was a leader in the field, in Latin America and globally, a passionate advocate for public health and human rights, and an integral ally to and member of numerous civil society organizations and coalitions.

From 2010 to 2020, Belén worked at the Inter-American Heart Foundation Argentina (FIC-Argentina) where she led the legal work of the organization before becoming its executive director, researching public policies to prevent noncommunicable diseases in Argentina and developing national and international advocacy strategies to promote effective regulations on tobacco control and healthy eating with a human rights perspective.

In early 2020, Belén joined the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, where she contributed with her expertise and vision to projects focused on healthy food environments and sexual and reproductive health.

Belén combined rigor with strategic thinking, always identifying creative and innovative ways to use the law to achieve health justice goals. She was passionate about her work, her life, her family, and her friends. Her legacy continues to inspire the public health and human rights community.