La Paz, Bolivia: During my one-year assignment in Bolivia as a UN Youth Volunteer, I worked at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) within the Indigenous Peoples Unit. I became familiar with indigenous peoples’ rights in a country where 42% of the population identify themselves as indigenous. My background as a human rights lawyer helped me to understand the serious challenges and threats that are living the Guarani peoples in the Chaco region.

Quito, Ecuador:  In spite of progress made at the political and judicial level, violence against women continues to persist in many parts of the world. We still have a long road ahead of us in our plight to end gender violence, and Ecuador is no exception. In this country, domestic violence is common, and many women endure emotional, psychological, and/or physical abuse. For all of these reasons, during my assignment, I wanted to help raise public awareness about gender relations and violence against women.

While there are an estimated 370 million indigenous people around the world, most remain largely excluded from mainstream decision-making processes. As a result, despite making up 5 per cent of the world’s population, 15 per cent of indigenous people suffer from extreme poverty.