Paraguay, the judiciary rejected five lawsuits filed by transgender people demanding legal recognition of their names in accordance with their gender identity. In the USA, the passage of anti-LGBTI laws at state level increased dramatically. Only 54% of LGBTI adults in the USA lived in states with hate crime laws covering sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. In Argentina, in April, Sofía Inés Fernández, a 40-year-old trans woman, was found dead in a police station cell in the town of Derqui, Buenos Aires, where she had been detained for alleged robbery. The accused police officers claimed that she had died by suicide, but the preliminary autopsy revealed asphyxia as the cause of death. Despite the bleak outlook, there was some progress. In Colombia, a person received a university degree matching their non-binary identity for the first time in April. Authorities must strengthen protection for LGBTI people, including by effectively investigating reports of abuse and bringing perpetrators to justice. INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS Indigenous Peoples, historically subjected to racial discrimination and marginalization, continued to be disproportionately affected by human rights violations. In Colombia, 45% of all displacement victims in 2023 were Afro-descendants and 32% were Indigenous Peoples, according to the OCHA. In Brazil, Sônia Guajajara, an Indigenous woman, became the first minister of Indigenous Peoples. Brazil's Ministry of Health declared a national public health emergency due to the lack of assistance available for the Yanomami People, who were suffering from malnutrition, contamination, and sexual violence, largely caused by the presence of illegal mining activities in their territory in the Amazon region. In several countries including Argentina, Canada, Ecuador and Venezuela, the right to free, prior and informed consent, particularly in relation to large-scale economic projects, was denied. In Canada, the National Action Plan for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, released by the government in June, did not include accountability mechanisms, and free, prior-and-informed consent. Several Wet’suwet’en land defenders went on trial in May and October for protecting their territory against the construction of a pipeline. One was found not guilty in November; the others were awaiting decisions and could face prison sentences if found guilty. Land tenure and entitlement problems continued in a number of countries. In Paraguay, the Tekoha Sauce Indigenous community of the Avá Guaraní Paranaense People were still waiting for the restitution of their ancestral territory, which had been seized by hydroelectric power company Itaipú Binacional. The company appealed a court decision that rejected an eviction order to remove the community from another area of their ancestral land. States must ensure Indigenous Peoples have ownership and control over their lands and resources. They must implement policies to end violence against Indigenous Peoples and guarantee justice, truth and reparation for the human rights violations they have endured. REFUGEES’ AND MIGRANTS’ RIGHTS Devastating political, humanitarian and economic crises across the Americas contributed to a systematic increase in the number of people leaving their home countries in search of safety and facing human rights violations in the process. More than 7.72 million Venezuelans had left the country by the end of the year, according to figures from UNHCR, the UN refugee agency. Authorities in Panama reported that 520,000 people crossed the border between Colombia and Panama through the Darien Gap, more than double the total number in 2022. There was The State of the World’s Human Rights 37