Thoughts on the programme: I chose to pursue the M.A Human Rights of FAU for a combination of reasons: its strategic location, as Nuremberg is the city of peace and human rights; the classes available in the programme and its interdisciplinary nature, which range from law to philosophy and politics, allowing for a broader vision of the several nuances of human rights issues; its competitive tuition fee and the fact that I was awarded the scholarship “Deutschlandstipendium” due to my academic background and past achievements. I had a great experience throughout my Master’s studies. Even before I left Brazil, I got a lot of support from the staff, who were very keen on answering all my questions and helping me out in any way possible. My classmates came from all around the world and enriched the experience even further. The classes were relevant and dynamic: beyond learning the theory, we discussed current topics and conducted case studies, analysing human rights issues across the different regional systems (European, American and African). I had the opportunity to engage myself in research, extracurricular activities and language courses, gaining more knowledge and making my CV more competitive internationally.

Professional background: I graduated in Law from Universidade Estadual do Maranhão in Brazil and specialized in International Law. I volunteered for a year at the Brazilian Bar Human Rights Committee, monitoring human rights violations and providing legal assistance to people in vulnerability situations. During the M.A Human Rights, I conducted an internship at the Nuremberg Principles Academy, working with International Criminal Law and Human Rights issues. Afterwards, I joined the United Nations Women for an internship in their office in Pristina, Kosovo, where I worked to support victims/survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and tackle violence against women in Kosovo. My stay there was again supported by FAU, which awarded me the PROMOS-DAAD scholarship. Such experience was personally and professionally ground-breaking and had incredible outputs – including the job I got at the Addressing Sexual Violence Unit of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland.