While many Alfred University students enjoyed spring break with rest and relaxation, fourth-year student Sofia Pizarro Lobos spent most of the week in New York City, working at the United Nations.
Lobos, a native of Santiago, Chile, majors in foreign languages and cultural studies, with a minor also in political science. She has been accepted for graduate study in human rights and diplomacy at the University of Stirling, in Scotland, and looks forward to a career with non-government organizations (NGO’s), pursuing diplomatic solutions to human rights crises.
Her involvement with the United Nations offered a glimpse at the potential impact individuals working in groups can have on complex international issues such as human rights.
“I was very inspired, very moved by so many people working on gender and equality around the world,” she says. “Youth in small communities can make the biggest changes in the world. The whole experience reinforces my commitment to civic community.”
Lobos’ work at the UN occurred in two areas: On March 8, she joined the Youth Forum of the 70th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70). The Forum is described by the UN as “a vibrant youth-led global gathering (bringing together) young feminists and allies to confront systemic injustices and champion bold, transformative solutions.”
She also joined the Youth Forum Intergenerational Approach to Access to Justice across the Life-Course, described as “an intergenerational space to explore the life course dimensions of justice, understanding barriers, identify promising practices, and generate actionable recommendations for global policy and national reform.” The event sought “to facilitate an intergenerational dialogue (to) highlight age-specific barriers to accessing justice for young girls and older women.”
Lobos’ interest the UN developed during her junior year, when she studied abroad in Lille, France. As a student of political science at the University of Lille, she became acquainted with UNICEF, the UN group that provides humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide. When she returned to the U.S., she started a local UNICEF club with support from Alfred University. The club describes itself as providing “an opportunity for students interested in the areas of humanitarian action, volunteering, and fundraising to take action while raising awareness of children's rights for UNICEF USA.”
As a modern language and political science student, Lobos has been developing a number of skills based on communication and a working knowledge of politics. She is fluent in three languages, having grown up in Santiago speaking Spanish while learning English from television. At Alfred University, she has studied French.
And while studying in France she began studying Italian, a language in which she has not yet reached fluency. She says she also speaks it with a combination of French and Spanish accents.
She looks forward to employing those language skills in her professional work. At the UN, she recalls, “I met with people of all ages from all over the world. The main objective was to make connections across the whole spectrum of international communities.”
