Gracias por unirse a nuestro seminario en línea, en el que exploramos los principales aprendizajes del Programa de Pasantías para Jóvenes Humanitarios de HLA en Perú.

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Webinar: Cultivating Youth Leadership in the Humanitarian Sector 

Thank you for joining our webinar, where we explored key learnings from the HLA’s Young Humanitarians Internship Programme in Perú.

In the conversation hosted by Ana Lucia, the speakers Mercedes, Gesele, Mitchel and Ana in addition to sharing key learnings from the HLA’s Young Humanitarian Internship Program; shared extensively on the importance and realities of youth engagement – how youth leadership can strengthen humanitarian response efforts and dynamize the sector.

In the engaging conversation, participants in the webinar asked about how youth can get more involved, what opportunities are available, what challenges to prepare for and how mitigate them, as well as what skills are required to contribute effectively.

An excerpt from the conversation from Mitchel Castro, Social Program Manager DAS Peru:
“The most important thing for youth is to understand that they are agents of change. That is you’re not the future, you’re the now. Now is the time to act and acting entails certain skills that you have to strengthen. We (hiring managers) chose professionals that know the field and knowing the field is key. You have to know the social context and how to navigate it – that is key for the youth to engage.

You need the willingness to innovate, to learn and work as a team. These skills really add to an intervention because these are quick interventions, which means that they have to have a very flexible view when it comes time to mobilise, and interact and dialogue with their peers and organisations and local leaders.

Another skill that has to be strengthened is emotional skills because these are difficult contexts – that is visiting communities that have been affected by fire and seeing the children there, seeing the communities affected by flooding and seeing the level of suffering that they might face while in turn being respectful and empathetic and contributing to those communities is all key.”

Learn more about the groundbreaking Young Humanitarian Internship Program (YHIP) pilot

Panelists:

Mercedes García, HLA LAC Regional Center Lead

Mercedes is a civil and environmental engineer with a postgraduate degree in local development and a Fulbright scholar with more than 20 years of experience in humanitarian and development fields, having previously worked with Plan International, Oxfam, and the government of El Salvador. Mercedes has led numerous humanitarian responses in Central America, managed disaster reduction, resilience, humanitarian action, and capacity-building programs, and currently serves as the regional leader of the Humanitarian Leadership Academy at Save the Children.

Gesele Diaz, Youth Intern at Acción por los Niños Peru

Gesele holds a degree in social work with a special interest in promoting sustainable development and addressing underlying causes of vulnerability in communities. Gesele interned at Action for Children, supporting the team in program operations, promotion, and advocacy. She is a graduate of the National University of San Marcos.

Mitchel Castro, Social Programs Manager DAS Peru

Mitchel is a social communicator and graduate of a Masters in Social Management. He has more than 20 years of work experience in the public and private sectors in the fields of human development and humanitarian aid, with a special emphasis on the Amazon and Indigenous Peoples. He is an expert in territorial planning, capacity building, and strategic communication. He has spoken at various national and international events. In recognition of his career, he holds honorary positions as Technical Advisor to the Ministerial Working Group on Life Plans and has been designated as an Honorary Associate with the Keller Science Action Center at the Field Museum of Chicago. He currently serves as Social Manager for Desarrollo Ambiental y Social Perú (DAS Perú).

Ana Paola Padilla, Consultant

Ana is a Honduran civil engineer with three years of experience in disaster risk management. She holds a master’s degree in Natural Risk Planning and Management from the University of Alicante and currently coordinates the Youth Network for Disaster Risk Reduction in Central America. Her work focuses on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in Honduras.