Annissa Saleh
UNHCR, Southern Latin America
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Hi everyone! I’m Annissa Saleh, a senior at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. My concentration, “The Art and Science of Childhood,” is centered around human beings’ development and immense growth. My concentration views children not as passive but rather active actors who can significantly shape their everyday experiences, given the opportunity to do so. When considering “childhood” as a broad construct, many think of pleasant memories with safe havens and wonderful caregivers. Yet, the experiences and complexities of many aspects of childhood are tinted depending on where one is born and depending on the political atmosphere, social and economical growth, war, pandemics, etc.
For my fellowship internship placement, I wanted to find a human rights organization dealing with the plight of refugees and migrant rights, with a focus on families and children. I sought a way to diversify and complement my academic knowledge of what childhood looks like around the world. As an intern this summer for the UNHCR, I will see how an organization employs an operational, on-the-ground response throughout the Southern Cone. Broadly, my work will relate to the needs of asylum seekers and refugees in the area, though I have been also assigned work on Venezuelan refugees and migrants entering Argentina.
The Venezuelan migrant crisis has contributed to the largest exodus in Latin America’s recent history. More than four million Venezuelans now live abroad, mostly in neighboring countries throughout the Southern Cone and the Caribbean. Many people are fleeing Venezuela due to ongoing and worsening political, human rights, and socioeconomic developments: political persecution, food insecurity, a lack of adequate medical and essential services, mass poverty and violence.
Through my remote work with the UNHCR this summer, I hope to continue thinking about how I can use my intersected academic knowledge and skills to directly impact the on-the-ground work I am pursuing.