Anabella Palacios

Anabella´s interest in world peace and international understanding began when she became a Youth Exchange Student from Rotary to study one year during high school in Istanbul, Turkey. This experience allowed her to observe democracy promotion and experience the reality of a cross-cultural country enhancing pluralism and social inclusion. After completing that program, she began her undergraduate studies in International Relations, which included the opportunity to study in Tokyo. Encouraged by a major Argentinean economic and social crisis during this time, she felt the need to learn ways to improve development and enhance the abilities of disadvantaged communities to surpass abject poverty. She was also a volunteer heading rural development projects to strengthen the quality of life for local communities in housing, health and poverty alleviation. Most of her working experience has been in international cooperation, issues of social responsibility, and sustainable development initiatives along with community development programs. As a Rotary World Peace Fellow, Anabella hopes to deepen her knowledge of planning and economic development issues. After completing her fellowship, she wishes to work with current development policies to improve social capacity and opportunity to overcome poverty.