Focal : Programs : FOCAL Young Professionals International Program

Sandra Jennifer Weins is from Winnipeg, Manitoba. She has a Bachelor degree in International Development and Conflict Resolutions and International Development Studies from University of Winnipeg.

Sandra was placed at the Centre for the Judicial Studies of the Americas in Santiago, Chile under the Supervision of Mauricio Duce, Training Coordinator at CEJA.

In terms of projects, her six months internship has been divided into two separate periods. During her first three months, June 21st to September 24th, Sandra will have her attention focused on the "III Encuento de Resolucion Pacifica de Conflictos" (III Meeting on Alternative Dispute Resolution), while the later part will deal with research and report writing on the conclusions that arise out of the conference and other inter related topics.

Guillermina Rodriguez is from Toronto, Ontario. She has an Honours degree in International Studies and Political Sciences from York University of Ontario.

Guillermina was placed in the Department of Economic Development in the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in Santiago, Chile under the Supervision of Andres Solimano, Regional Assessment Specialist in Economic Development. She has the responsibility of conducting a research on International Migration Trends and development, focusing on flows between Latin America and Europe. Specifically looking at the root causes of migration, policy context, effects of emigration and immigration, the "brain-drain" effect, remittances, the consequences of skilled and unskilled migration, a detailed search of Latin American presence in Italy and Spain, the transformation of Europe into a region of emigration to immigration, and the future outlook of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Ana María Alvarado is from Vancouver, British Columbia. She has a Bachelor in Political Science and a Minor in Latin American Studies from University of British Columbia.

Ana Maria was placed in "Fundación para la Paz y la Democracia" (Foundation for Peace and Democracy-FUNPADEM) in San José, Costa Rica and she will be under the supervision of Elizabeth Badilla C., Directora de Relaciones Externas. Ana María is working on "Centroamérica Cumple y Gana: fortalecimiento de los derechos laborales en Centroamérica" (Strengthening the Labor Rights in Central America) This project involves five countries in Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua) that agreed to sign a Free Trade Agreement with Unite States. The goal of this project is to improve the fulfillment of Labor Rights in Central America, by the promotion of Labor Legislation of each country and its tutelary mechanisms, and reinforce the Labor Inspection Systems and Alternative Conflict Resolution in labor maters.

Charles-André Goulet is from Montreal, Quebec. He has a Master degree in Political Sciences, specializing in Developing Areas from McGill University.

He was placed at the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights in San José, Costa Rica. Charles is working on two projects: The first project deals with Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (DESC). His role in this project consists in providing research assistance to those developing the theoretical approach of the IIDH in the DESC field. His involvement is not only challenging because little research has been done in the latter field, but also because the results of their investigation will be taken into account in building a section of the prestigious summer course offered by the IIDH. The second project that he is working on deals with the themes of education and human rights to education (EDH). Among other things, his work consists in analyzing the EDH reports prepared by local teams from all over Latin America. As an intern in the Department of Applied Investigation, he will also work on organizing the findings of IIDH partners (and students) in order to prepare the yearly reports on DESC and EDH.

Marieke Knight is from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She has a Bachelor degree in International Studies specializing in Latin American Development from University of Saskatchewan.

Marieke began her placement with the Human Rights Commission of Belize (HRCB) and completed it working at San Martin Community Health (CHC), a collaborative project of Belmopan City Council and the Belize Ministry of Health. San Martin is an impoverished area with a high population of immigrant families and refugees from El Salvador and Guatemala. Marieke assisted them with determining what services are needed in the area, especially by women. She interviewed women in the community, canvassed them on their interest in forming a cooperative, and helped organize them to learn to make and sell various crafts. Marieke also took a census of the area to find out how many children are not attending school regularly and the reasons for them being out of school.

Carolina Guzman is from Ottawa, Ontario. She has a Bachelor degree in Economics from Carleton University. She was placed at Red Interamericana para la Democracia-RID (Inter-American Democracy Network), in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Under the Executive Director, Gustavo Gamallo, she will be working, as part of a team, in different activities that will contribute with the development of the Programa de Acción de la Secretaría Ejecutiva de la RID - SERID (RID's Executive Secretary Action Program) .

RID has 350 members and there are activities related to the membership that Carolina will participate and work on.

Carolina is participating in international meetings. Previous to these meetings she has to research on information related to it and after the meeting she will be writing documents in regards to the issues presented including its conclusions.

Barbara MacLaren is from Ottawa, Ontario. She has an Honours degree in International Development Studies and Political Science and a Minor in Latin American Literature from McGill University. She was placed at the Indigenous Peoples and Community Development Unit, in the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, DC, United States. She will report the Chief of the Indigenous Peoples and Community Development Unit, Anne Deruyttere.

As a part of this mandate, Barbara will work on an independent research project analyzing the existing policies of international organizations on indigenous issues, which will be released as a part of the Bank's upcoming Framework on Indigenous Peoples. In addition to this, she will support the team in many other projects, working on the updating of the Inter-American Development Bank's database on Projects targeting or involving indigenous peoples. Updating the summary report with findings from the analysis of this database, updating the tables and graphs, as well as the findings, conclusions and recommendations in the draft report.

Barbara will also identify other queries and trends in the data to complement and strengthen the summary report. This report is a critical input into a comparative assessment that will be done on the IDB's experience with indigenous peoples projects as compared to other international institutions, which is a key document for the Strategic Framework on Indigenous Development and the Operational Policy on Indigenous Peoples, which the Unit is currently preparing for submission to the Board in February 2005

Updating the database on projects involving involuntary resettlement and generation of queries and reports to support the work being done on the updating of the Operational Guidelines on Involuntary Resettlement. She will, also, support with research and analysis of quantitative economic and social data and indicators to substantiate the chapter on the economic and social conditions of Indigenous Peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean, in the aforementioned Strategic Framework on Indigenous Development. Support with the organization of a workshop (September) on the use of GIS technology for mapping of cultural land use for purposes of land use mapping and natural resource management, and a workshop (December) together with the World Bank and George Washington University on Canadian best practices in conflict resolution related to natural resource extraction in areas occupied by native communities.

Kimberly Segura is from Sherwood Park, Alberta. She has a Bachelor degree in International Relations specializing in International Political Economy in Latin America and a Minor in Management and Society, from the University of Calgary.

Kimberly was placed in the Summits of the Americas Secretariat at the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, DC, USA. She is working on the Indigenous Issues project under the supervision of Jorge Sanín, Senior Specialist - Civil Society Coordinator.

Provide administrative and technical support for the Summits Secretariat, the technical secretariat responsible for the working group to prepare the Draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States.
Assist in the collaboration of the planned indigenous meeting in preparation of the Fourth Summit of the Americas to be held in Argentina in 2005.
Communicate with and provide support to Indigenous Representatives in preparation for and during meetings.
Update the indigenous database, compile information on the national legislation regarding indigenous issues and facilitate national consultations, improve the strategy of communication with indigenous representatives.
Prepare budgetary reports on the expenditures incurred with the Specific Fund to Support the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in particular, those related with the future Sessions of the Working Group Responsible for the Elaboration of the American Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS).
Provide administrative and logistical support to the Working Group with special emphasis on the work and responsibilities of the Secretariat of the Summit Process.

FOCAL Young Professionals International Program (YPIP) 2004-2005