I am Brazilian and had spent most of my career in finance when I applied to GLODEP, driven by a long‑held desire to work in international development. When I received my admission letter, I knew I couldn’t miss the chance to study a subject I cared deeply about, alongside people from around the world, in three different countries. Arriving in the Czech Republic felt like a turning point. The diverse curriculum, spanning development issues, economics, and quantitative methods, gave me the tools to enter a new field. But I believe I learned the most from my classmates. Coming from 17 countries, we lived and relied on each other daily, and their stories and perspectives transformed the way I understood the world. That new outlook guided my next steps. During my final semester, I interned at the UN Office in Geneva, working at the Joint Inspection Unit on Disaster Risk Reduction evaluations. After graduation, I completed a traineeship in the statistics department of the European Central...

How did you use GLODEP to get where you are now? What is your current position? I would like to start by thanking the European Union through the Erasmus plus Programme for the opportunity to study a Global Development Policy (GLODEP) Masters Programme in International Development Studies. Prior to my Masters Programme, I was a Disaster Preparedness Officer which I still am, and was confined largely to routine office/ desk job and field work related to disasters. I have faced a challenge of limited promotion opportunities and ability to transfer within Government since the humanitarian office is only under one ministry. However, despite the limitations mentioned, I have been fortunate to chair meetings with more senior colleagues, participating in high level panel discussions among others involving senior officials and heads of UN institutions/ senior government officials and legislators. The most recent can be seen on the link below where I make reference to the humanitarian-development...

I’m currently working as a Doctoral Researcher at the Sustainable Urban Systems and the Urban Environmental Policy research groups at the University of Helsinki. Before my current position and following the graduation from GLODEP I worked as the Policy and Advocacy Manager of Habitat for Humanity Hungary, a local branch of the US-headquartered international NGO advocating for the eradication of housing deprivation and the improvement of housing conditions of people of low-income and disadvantaged backgrounds. Both in my previous position and in my current role I have built on the knowledge and experience gathered during GLODEP. Switching from a more policy-oriented position to a more academic position was also a smooth process, to which GLODEP contributed greatly via providing an excellent foundation for both formulating research-based policy recommendations and producing policy-relevant research. The multidisciplinary approach has proven to be one of the key strengths of GLODEP. I have...