After receiving my Master’s degree in human rights, I wanted to ensure that my experience was used wisely, so I sought an opportunity to work with the United Nations in a peacekeeping operation. The United Nations world had always fascinated me and I was eager to put my human rights skills and experience into practice. My first role was as a Human Rights Volunteer in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where I was immediately deployed to the eastern part of the country to join a dynamic team which was very experienced on the ground. 

I was exposed to core human rights issues from the outset in a volatile context on the ground. I remember being impressed by the robust collaborative environment that had been established locally between policemen, as well as military and civilian personnel from different backgrounds and cultures. Everyone knew the importance of working together to make the region more peaceful.

Subsequently, I joined the peacekeeping operation in Sudan. One of the exciting aspects of my work is that every deployment comes with the challenge and responsibility to learn and understand the country dynamics, as well as the story of communities and individual people. Each day brings new discoveries about a given culture.

Some of my best memories of working in the field are connected to particular situations where there have been successful outcomes: the reunification of families who had been displaced due to a crisis or detained in unknown location; bringing perpetrators of serious human rights violations to justice; and great partnerships with local counterparts that improved the human rights situation. 

In my current position in Mali, I supervise human rights investigations in the field and assist the teams in collecting information on particular cases. During my missions throughout the country, I work with armed groups, government counterparts and local civil society to advocate for human rights and international humanitarian law to be respected. My role also involves many strategic discussions at Headquarters so that our team can effectively devise creative ways to address particular situations. Nowadays, I particularly enjoy training and mentoring more junior staff regarding the best practice application of human rights principles in the field.