Irene Izquieta | UNV Focal Point Gender and Human Rights, UNAIDS Guatemala
Welcome to the United Nations Career Journey Podcast, where we interview colleagues working for the United Nations all around the world. Our conversations explore their fascinating career paths, what career satisfaction means to them, and how they keep learning and developing on the job.
My name is Petra and our conversation today is with Irene Izquieta who is a UN Volunteer Focal Point for Gender and Human Rights. Welcome to the Career Journey Podcast, Irene and thank you for joining us. It is my pleasure to have you as a guest speaker on the podcast.
Thank you, Petra, and yeah, thank you for this invitation and for thinking of me for doing this. And I’m very glad of being here.
So let’s start with an introduction. Would you like to introduce yourself to our listeners?
Yes, yes. So yes, my name is Irene. I am from Spain. I’m 31 years old now. I am currently living, as you said in in Guatemala, working as UNV Focal point on Human rights and Gender at UNAIDS Guatemala, which now is a multi-country office covering Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. And I’ve been living here in Guatemala for seven years now. It’s only one year for UNAIDS, but in Guatemala, seven years now. I worked before with Peace Brigades International as a country coordinator here and working with human rights defenders at risk, because of their work on human rights and also previously, I worked also with human rights defenders in Mexico, in the in the southern states of Mexico. Also I worked in Colombia like at the beginning of my career. And my background is, I studied International Relations and Translation and Interpreting, a double level degree in Spain, and then I got the opportunity to study a Master’s degree at the Geneva Academy on Transitional Justice, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and yeah, and that’s a little bit my my background and who I am.
Thank you for this introduction. Uhm, I would like to ask you, what kind of projects or tasks are you working on in your role?
Yes, so basically in my role, since it’s a very also it’s a very small office here in UNAIDS Guatemala, so I am in charge of the projects that have to do with gender and human rights, but of course this is very wide. So, for example, I’m involved in many projects that have to do with guaranteeing and promoting the right to justice and the right to access justice for people living with HIV and key populations which means LGBTQ+ people, people in prison and users of drugs, because this is like the key populations for UNAIDS as well. Something that is very important maybe to start with is that the projects that I am involved with are always in connection and supporting social civil society organizations that have these kinds of activities and UNAIDS kind of supports them and kind of strengthens those activities, because for UNAIDS and for UNAIDS Guatemala in particular, it is very important that the community-led response is key for the national HIV response. So in my role, I am in constant contact and coordination with civil society organizations and people living with HIV and communities of people living with HIV because they are key in what we do, and supporting them is essential for the mandate of UNAIDS. So that on the right to justice. Also, for example, I work with some NGOs promoting the creation and the development of information about the human rights situation of people living with HIV and key populations, because there is not that much data on human rights situation. For example, transgender women, do they have access to education? Do they have access to a proper job? Do they live in poverty because they are transgender women, and they suffer stigma and discrimination?
So all these types of projects that try to generate information on these topics, I also support those projects and contribute to them. Also, a very important part of my job is all the work on gender, and by working on gender, for example, we support the community of women living with HIV here in Guatemala, raising awareness, promoting a sensibilization on HIV, sexual education, because this is something that all together with civil society we have found out that is very lacking, mostly in rural areas, so promoting this kind of sensitization which is key for HIV prevention. We also support transgender women, LGBTQ+ civil society organizations on this kind of projects, always on the topic of human rights and promoting that. And also, a very important part of our of my role is promoting all the activities I have to do with fighting stigma and discrimination associated with HIV and gender identity. So yeah, that’s a little bit the scope of my job. And then, we have this kind of more internal part of the job, which is contributing to a lot of UN initiatives by always trying to put the focus and the approach on HIV, on gender diversity, no? And how this affects us in general the sustainable development and the goals of the United Nations. So that’s a little bit my work.
Thank you so much. It’s great to hear and to find out a bit more in detail what projects a role like yours in the field of gender and human rights entail. So, I would like to ask you, you mentioned you are a UN volunteer, but how would you describe the mandate of UN Volunteers to someone who is not familiar with it? Because you mentioned you work for UNAIDS, so could you describe how does UNV fit within the organization that you work for?
So, for me, UNV is, like the mandate, in my own words is putting at the service of the of different UN agencies fund some programs, people who are eager to contribute to human rights, to sustainable development, to gender equality, to justice, to peacebuilding, so putting at the service of UN a lot of people who are really committed to work for these ideas and these goals. And I think it’s a very important role but because UNV it’s kind of a link for many UN agencies with these people that really wants to contribute, and maybe sometimes like starting the career, for example in UNAIDS from the bottom might be difficult, because you need experience in the topic or because it might be difficult to reach out or to look for a specific opportunities at UNAIDS and other agencies. So, I think that UNV is a very important entry point.
And I think this linking role of UNV is very important and I think it is how I would describe the mandate of UNV. And then, to answer the second part of your question, this contributes to UNAIDS’ mandate and mission because UNAIDS wants to promote sustainable development, peace, human rights, so finding people that want to contribute to that and want to join the organization to contribute in different duty stations to those goals is very interconnected, and I think it really matches UNV’s mandate with the mandate of UNAIDS and also with the mandate of many other agencies. So yeah, I really see a clear connection line and a clear relationship between these two agencies or the UNAIDS and the UNV Programme.
This is very insightful, and I believe it helps a lot to understand the mandate of the different organizations and the links between being a UN Volunteer on an assignment for a specific organization, in this case UNAIDS. Now my next question is, you know, by carrying out your role and having these responsibilities, how did your assignment help you to develop your skills, competencies, or network?
Yes, I think that’s a very good question because I am completely grateful about this opportunity because I’m learning a lot more about myself, about the others, about also developing my professional skills. To me in general, this is a learning opportunity and development of my professional skills in the sense that I am in constant contact with civil society organization and I’m developing my advocacy skills because I need to in many cases, advocate for them also in connection with the government, international cooperation agencies, and international development agencies. So UNAIDS also has like a bridging role between civil society, governments, or important actors in the HIV response, so my advocacy skills are developing. Also, I am developing my skills on being more analytical, more critical with the information, because of my role, I have to use a lot of the information we have to promote why it is important that this or that actor supports an initiative on stigma and discrimination, so also I am developing those types of skills. And in general, I feel that working with civil society and specifically working with people that has to… that has a complicated situation and a challenging life because of many different inequalities and barriers, I think that is always a learning opportunity, because this inspiration is an inspiration for me. This is not new for me because I’ve been working with human rights’ defenders for long time, and also I have had the chance to work with these people for long time, but working with people with HIV and key populations and LGBTQ+ communities in Guatemala is continuous inspiration for me. It makes me think how can I use my privilege for that goal and to support the goals of civil society and of people living with HIV. I also… like the basis of my skills is that I feel completely lucky to be with these people, to share with them, and also to support them in a way, maybe small, maybe sometimes bigger. But support them and promote these goals that are also my personal goals, because I personally believe in justice, in equality, gender equality. So it’s also good, it’s also very… I think it’s a privilege to work in something that you believe in as a person, so that’s also that answers to the question on how this opportunity kind of develops my professional skills.
That’s actually amazing to hear that your daily work with the communities is your source of motivation. It’s a really inspiring attitude towards your job and perhaps others will find it inspiring too. Now I would like to ask you, there are many even volunteer positions and assignments out there, so which steps would you recommend to someone who would like to join UNVs as well? Any particular recommendations, resources, perhaps training?
Yes, I always think that this question is difficult because I think that in all these opportunities there is always the lucky factor, no, by being in the right time, in the right moment. But there is a lot of different UNV assignments, as you said, in very different topics. Like for example, talking about human rights or gender, I recommend to do trainings. There are many online trainings that are not necessarily expensive or that maybe they are free, to do trainings on human rights. Or for example, if you want to work with refugees, so there are a lot of uh trainings on humanitarian law, on how to accompany migrants, for example. So, I think that the training part sometimes is kind of missing the question because a professional experience is very important, but I think the training part is important as well, because it shows that you also have an interest that goes beyond the limited professional interests of having a job. Also, maybe if in the if you are starting your career, and you have the chance to do volunteering in your city. When I was in university, I volunteered with kids that couldn’t live with their families and they were living in kind of state refugee homes, so I did that on a daily basis, so while I was studying in university in Madrid, in my home country, it didn’t involve travelling. Of course, if you have the chance to do volunteering in another country, that’s great, but it can be also local volunteering on a daily basis, because also that has a huge impact on your surroundings and on yourself. So I think that if you’re starting your career, volunteering is a very good opportunity to not kind of a walking towards this professional sphere. Yeah, that would be a little bit the recommendation. And then also, I think in my case, it’s a very particular case, so maybe it’s not applicable for everyone, no? But in my case, I got the chance to come to Guatemala for the first time and this I think it has been a major moment in my career, because maybe because I came to Guatemala to work in something very provisional and maybe not as well paid, but I came here, I did it for one year and then I had the opportunity to link with other with other jobs that it was very remarkable in my career. Like making the decision of okay, I go one year to another country to do something I believe in, but in maybe in different conditions. I think that that was good too, and then something that I recommend to friends that want to do something in UNV, also it is a question of how you tell others your experience and how you communicate your experience. And farther than the CV and all that, I think it is important to communicate in the in the UNV page and then also if you had the chance to have an interview, your commitment, your passion, I’m sure that what it was made me got the job in a way, is that in the interview, I was super passionate about the role. It is something that I believe in, and I think that that was something convincing because it’s true, I believe in what I do. CVs are very great. It’s very difficult to communicate passion in a CV, but I think there are ways to do it, and also in the interview. So that could be maybe a another tip, reflecting a little bit more on my path so that would be it.
Wow. Thank you very much for first of all, the recommendations, but also for sharing your personal story on how it was a big step for you to move to Guatemala and how it shaped your career. I’m sure many of our listeners can relate to it. Sadly, our interview is coming to an end, which leads me to the last question for today. The mandate of UNVs is all about creating change, volunteerism and having an impact. But how do you yourself see creating that change?
Uh that’s a very difficult question, Petra, because it’s very difficult. But if I picture myself in the future, I think that creating the change, it doesn’t have to be something super big, but I think it’s something that you work for in the daily basis. So, for example, the volunteering thing, or sometimes, in my work, of course, there are fun things to do, like accompanying civil society organizations, but of course there is this part of the job where it’s more administrative or like writing a super big report, or there are those kind of things. But I think that making the changes, for example I see the chance of writing a report or an analysis on something and I think, okay, I want to really position the needs of people living with HIV or to tell the story of people living with HIV in Guatemala, so I reflect on that and I think, okay, I can do it, and maybe that is going to contribute to change some people’s minds, that stigma and discrimination against HIV is not something justified, it’s not logic, it really harms people. So how can I change that? So, in the future, outside UNV, when this career opportunity finishes and my life changes, I think that contributing to change despite my professional life and how that could be because you never know, but it’s contributing to change in a daily basis. For example, I really believe in gender equality, so for example, contributing to change is having a conversation with someone that may have prejudices about LGBTQ+ people. For example, in a country like Guatemala, sometimes that stigma is very present, so having a conversation with someone you know that might be kind of with prejudice about it, that is contributing to change. So that’s how I see a little bit my future and my role. Hopefully this continues in a professional basis, but if it does not continue in a professional basis and I have to walk dogs in the future, I will contribute to change by doing those little actions. And I know it sounds very typical. I like, oh, that’s so beautiful, that it’s not true, but I really believe in that.
Thank you so much, Irene, and thank you very much for coming to the podcast. I really enjoyed our conversation.
Thank you, Petra, and thank you for your time.
And thank you to all our listeners. We hope you enjoyed this episode and that our conversations will inspire you to keep learning and advancing in your careers. If you like this episode, please share it with your friends and colleagues, and make sure to tune in for the next one.
