Children and Persons with Disabilities: Research and Activism in Mexico

Developing countries face enormous challenges in achieving equal opportunities for their populations. Access to education, health, justice, and other essential rights is unequal and often dependent on personal circumstances. Research and activism from the legal profession can be leveraged to pursue the rights of children and persons with disabilities. In this session, Professor Clara-Luz Alvarez will share her experience and the challenges she has faced as an academic and activist in Mexico in relation to telecommunications/ICTs, justice, children, and persons with disabilities.

Clara-Luz Alvarez is a researcher of the Mexican National Researchers System (Sistema Nacional de Investigadoras e Investigadores) with level III (highest level) and researcher level D (highest level) at the Universidad Panamericana (Mexico), for telecommunications law and public policy. She is also a partner at Bufete Quijano.

Clara-Luz is author of the books: Satellite and Outer Space Law (2025), Derecho Satelital y del Espacio Exterior (2023), Tribunales Especializados en Telecomunicaciones (2020), Telecomunicaciones y Radiodifusión en México (2018), and others, and is the author of several chapters in books and articles in peer-reviewed journals.

She has been appointed as an expert in Telecommunications Law in two international arbitrations (ICSID case UNCT/17/1 and ICSID case ARB(AF)/17/2). Clara-Luz is a columnist at  Reforma, one of the main national Mexican newspapers.

Clara-Luz serves as honorary member and secretary of the Citizen Council for Security and Justice of Mexico City (Consejo Ciudadano de Seguridad y Justicia de la Ciudad de México). Also, she is a member of the Consumer Council of the Mexican Consumer Authority (Procuraduría Federal del Consumidor), and of the Advertisement Council of the Mexican Food and Drug Authority (COFEPRIS). She has served as member of the Advisory Committee of the Federal Telecommunications Institute (2015–2017), and of the Mexican Telecommunications Commission (Cofetel, 2011–2013).

Clara-Luz has been an expert of the International Telecommunications Union for ICT accessibility for persons with disabilities (since 2015), and was rapporteur for the International Telecommunications Union’s study group of ICT accessibility for persons with disabilities (2006-2011).

She was Commissioner for the Mexican Telecommunications Commission (Cofetel, 2003-2006), and the head of the Legal Unit of such Commission (2003-2005).

Clara-Luz holds a PhD with honours (Universidad Panamericana), a master in Comparative Jurisprudence (New York University), a master of Juridical Science (Universidad Panamericana), and a law degree where I obtained the medal for the highest grade point average in the Social Science School (Universidad de las Américas-Puebla).