Who?
Clara Barré
Background
Institute of Political Sciences – Grenoble (France)
Masters Degree in International Economy – Paris Dauphine University (France)
Internship at the United Nations Department for Social and Economic Affairs – New York (USA)
Volunteering for an NGO - Kolkatta (India)
Working for a microfinance organisation – (Paris)
Which course did you attend?
Introduction to working in conflict in November 2008.
What are you doing now?
I’m an international volunteer for the Foundation for Tolerance International in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), a Kyrgyz NGO working in the field of conflict prevention and resolution in the Ferghana Valley.
How did you develop an interest in peacebuilding?
I have always had a deep interest in international relations and in issues related to development from political and economic perspectives. This is the reason I chose academic studies related to these fields and what pushed me abroad for the past 10 years.
As a traveller and as an NGO worker I have had opportunities to travel or work in places such as Algeria, Israel, Iran, Cuba, the Balkans or India… and now Kyrgyzstan, where I have faced extremely different types of situations. Each local context has its own particularities; when you encounter these situations in the field, you start having a local vision and your perception of the situation changes inevitably. The situation is often a little bit more complicated than what you may have heard or read; the local population’s point of view, and their day-to-day life cannot be left apart and have to stand as the basis of any relevant analysis.
These experiences in the field are intellectually extremely motivating because you really have a chance to understand how subtle the local political process is; approaching it without making shortcuts is a hard job, which is for me what makes it intersecting and challenging. You have to take into account a mix of global issues and personal stories and situations.
What did you do before taking Alert’s training course?
I was working for a microfinance organisation in Paris. I wanted to have another experience in the field and I wanted to know more about peacebuilding programmes and jobs.
What did you learn and which skills did you develop during the course?
Even though I already knew about some organisations that worked in peacebuilding, this area of work was quite vague for me. This training definitely gave me a lot of concrete ideas.
In addition, now that I am working in a peacebuilding NGO, I realise that the kind of activities organised by Alert’s trainers are the kind of activities you implement in the field.
Was the course useful for your career? If yes, in what way?
The course has been directly useful for me, as it enabled me to meet a former international volunteer who used to work for the NGO for which I am currently working. The quality of her presentation and my deep interest and motivation to work in the field in Central Asia drove me to get in touch with this organisation and to start working for them a few months later.
What are the qualities and features that help you work in the peace sector?
I have been working in Kyrgyzstan for 3 months only and I know that I still have a lot to learn.
So far, I can say that working in the field in such a sector requires a good amount of motivation and determination as the energy spent does not always show quick results; you have to keep in mind long-term objectives that you won’t necessarily see while working hard every day. I would say that patience and openness of mind are also important because the process of understanding local situations and local people’s expectations takes time.
What advice would you give to anyone interested in developing a career in peacebuilding?
It is hard to give advice when it comes to such a personal choice. I think the only advice I would give is to keep travelling, no matter the place or the condition – try to avoid tourist tours of course! – this is the best school. Stay long in one place, start working with local organisations, it’s the only way to understand the way people work and live in the field. By renewing this experience in several places, you will catch the differences in terms of cultural mindset, in terms of political issues; you will also perceive the common points, the difficulties to adapt each time. And if you keep loving these experiences, then you can consider seriously working in this field….