Colombia Researcher at the Truth Commission Trainer in Education on the Risk of Antipersonnel Mines. The REACT course is a learning and cultural exchange experience that delves into the causes and impacts of armed conflicts in the world. In this course I was able to learn about the actors, institutions and challenges of peacekeeping and strengthen my actions for field work. Thanks to this training, I will continue working hand in hand with the communities, children, women, in peace-building processes.

Productive Project Officer UN Verification Mission in Colombia. Participating in REACT was to strengthen learning and add new knowledge, in addition to having known incredible people. From this high quality programme I got an overview of current international conflicts, intervention strategies and valuable information for my field work.

General Manager, Turkey/MENA branch at Symborg; Water & Sanitation Expert. I am pleased to say that thanks to Helsinki España and the REACT programme, my life changed for the better. The course ended on the 31st of May (2013), and one week later I already had a job offer from UNV. It materialized in a position as Water and Sanitation (WASH) Engineer at the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). I worked there for over 2 years, applying everything that I learned during REACT. Thanks to the programme I achieved my dream to work for the UN.

Press and Public Information Officer/Spokesperson, EU Regional Advisory & Coordination Cell for the Sahel (RACC). I have worked in crisis areas for the last 20 years, from the Middle East to Africa to Central Asia and the Caucasus. Although I already had a solid international experience as a journalist and working for the UN prior to applying for REACT, my participation in the programme (2012) allowed me to change my career path and start my journey in EU crisis management. Since then, I have been deployed in missions in Libya, Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, Georgia and the Sahel, and REACT remains one of the best and most comprehensive courses I have ever attended.

Director-General of the Plateau State Peacebuilding Agency in Nigeria. The PPBA is the first agency of its kind to be established by a sub-national government in Nigeria. We work with a wide range of stakeholders to resolve old conflicts, prevent new ones from happening, and to also promote safer, secure and stable communities in our state. As a pioneer head of this institution, I am proud to say that my appointment into this position was partly in consideration of my participation in the REACT program – a huge investment in human capital development, for which I remain indebted and grateful.

UNV Field Officer at the UN Verification Mission in Colombia. Being part of REACT meant a huge professional change for me. Mainly, I felt empowered to be able to understand and search for the job I really wanted. It gave me tremendous insights of the humanitarian sector, and I was able to expand my vision as to what it really means to be a humanitarian worker. Additionally, the preparation I gained through the hostile environment awareness training has been an added value. Thanks to REACT, I got the necessary tools to strengthen my CV and successfully managed to get a UNV position in Africa (DRC), and now in Colombia.

After my experience in REACT, I have worked for UNDP in Cape Verde, GVC Tunisia, the Spanish Red Cross, and I even started my own project, “Tejidos”, aimed at preventing violent extremism, which led me to represent Spain at the African Union in 2019.

The experience of participating in the REACT and HEAT courses has been incredible to say the least. Not only did I meet people from all over the world, but I also created friendships and developed connections that have furthered my understanding of the world. An important aspect for me was to understand conflict, a side of society that tends to be avoided, what it entails and how it affects the world. This experience has left me thinking on how I fit into this constantly evolving and unequal world.

REACT has given me enormous knowledge on issues related to conflict, dialogue, international law, international organizations, and harsh environment awareness. These will allow me to address different realities and approaches in the professional and even personal fields. If you ask me to define my experience in REACT, I would without a doubt say that it was CHALLENGING and SATISFACTORY, because this course not only requires a certain level of knowledge on various topics, but also that it demands the maximum of attention and disposition to understand different points of view, even reality in which one disagrees.

I would describe this experience as challenging, complementary and enriching. The course, divided into two main sections, allowed me to have beneficial and supplementary professional growth. In the first stage, REACT, the course involved participants and lecturers from all over the world, making the development of the course very dynamic and with a wide perspectives approach. The content of the sessions and their methodology gave me an entirely different point of view to understand the conflicts and, most importantly, how various paths exist towards our involvement in conflict and crisis prevention, resolution, and post-conflict processes.

REACT and HEAT were incredible experiences that allowed me not only to obtain new knowledge, but also to reinforce it in practice with a great team of speakers and colleagues. I loved being part of a group truly invested in improving the world beginning in themselves. Their intellectual capacity and human qualities showed me that, regardless of where we are from and the diversity of our cultures, it is possible and enriching to work in unison when the objectives are clear and when differences are taken as an opportunity to grow.