2007 Fellows Update

Eve de la Mothe Karoubi was most recently in Thailand, wrapping up her second international placement at the Office of Human Rights and Social Development Studies at Mahidol University. In addition to supporting on-going research projects at the Center, she has been conducting her own research, focusing on the role of youth activism in the Burmese pro-democracy movement. While based in Bangkok, Eve was working with several other organizations in Northern Thailand, from where most Burmese organizations operate in political exile.

"The highlight of this placement has been my relationship with a particular activist training school, where I had the opportunity to facilitate a 3-day training workshop on conflict transformation. My experience working with them has been so mutually beneficial and positive that I may return to teach the same workshop again next year with the new batch of student activists."

Currently Eve is in West Africa, based in Monrovia, Liberia, with plans to travel frequently to Sierra Leone. She will be working with Youth Action International, an organization established to promote and protect the rights of children in conflict areas.

During Rebecca Brubaker’s first placement, she was working as an assistant researcher for a project run by the European University Institute and the Moroccan Center for Migration. Rebecca interviewed various stakeholders from all sectors of Moroccan society about their interests and positions regarding the issue of return migration to Morocco. The research team is developing a negotiated policy that will be presented to the EU and Moroccan governments for implementation.

Rebecca just finished her second placement with the UNHCR in Istanbul, Turkey. During this time, Rebecca worked as the local NGO Integration Unit liaison, trained in assessing asylum cases. She also studied intensive Turkish. Rebecca is currently in her last placement at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Seisei Tatebe-Goddu is currently in Amman, Jordan, where she is working on two different projects. The first, with Friends of the Earth Middle East, involves designing the consensus-building process for planning workshops on the King Abdullah I Peace Park. The Park is being proposed as a model for cross-border collaboration and will be jointly administered by Israel and Jordan. The second project enlists Seisei’s skills as the primary mediator of a multi-stakeholder dispute over land between a local NGO and Bedouin herders.