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Rebecca Gerome and the Colectivo Dignidad Humana (IANSA)
Rebecca Gerome will be working in Cali, Colombia with the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) and their local partner, Colectivo Dignidad Humana, as a 2009 Peace Fellow. A network of 800 organizations in 120 countries, IANSA has been key in raising and unifying the voices of NGOs working to stop the proliferation of small arms and light weapons. As a founding member of the Control Arms Campaign with Oxfam and Amnesty International, IANSA has also been instrumental in advocating for a global arms trade treaty, achieving a major victory in 2006 when 153 states voted to start work on an arms trade treaty in 2007.
The recent shootings in Germany and the United States have given America and Europe a tragic illustration of the urgency of the issue and the need to build a strong and effective global network against gun violence. Preventing the proliferation of small arms in Cali is particularly crucial because Colombia has one of the highest homicide rates in the world - currently at 33 per 100,000 people - and the overwhelming majority of those killings are by firearms. Rebecca will be helping to build advocacy capacity around small arms issues by various means, including creating an engaging google site for the organization, conducting video interviews of stakeholders, and publishing press releases.
Rebecca is a French-American student pursuing a Master’s degree at Sciences Po in Paris in International Affairs, with a specialization in International Public Management and International Law. She is currently working on a team project to promote the vital work of Aide Médicale Internationale, a little known yet indispensable NGO, by collecting stories of critical moments in the organization’s history. As an undergraduate at Columbia University, Rebecca majored in History and concentrated in Human Rights and was the Africa Program intern at Trickle Up, an international NGO which fights against poverty through micro-enterprise development.
Rebecca spent last summer working in the most marginalized neighborhoods of Quito, Ecuador, as the Assistant Project Coordinator for a local NGO which educates street children and supports them as they enter public school. She is excited to return to South America this summer to help strengthen the global movement against gun violence. The success of the international campaign to ban landmines, culminating in the Ottawa treaty of 1999 and the Nairobi Action Plan for 2005-2009 shows that change is possible if organizations from around the world unite to fight for a common goal.
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