Katie Durvin is a TD Fellow in Migration and Diaspora Studies and an MA Candidate at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) specializing in Development Projects and Planning. She is a former graduate of Vancouver Island University with a major in Global Studies. Her main research interests lie in the relationship between gender, development, and conflict in humanitarian emergencies, and is particularly interested in sexual and reproductive rights for displaced women and girls. For her graduate thesis, she will be researching the role of domestic structural factors in the implementation of the Minimal Initial Service Package (MISP) for Sexual and Reproductive Health for refugees and internally displaced persons in Chad, Africa, involving fieldwork in partnership with CARE Canada.
As a student at VIU, Katie was the Co-chair of Vancouver Island University’s World University Service of Canada (WUSC) Local Committee, assisting in the organization and planning of International Development Week, and was a member of the Model United Nations Club. For her internship, Katie worked as a Program Assistant for the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) in Dzaleka refugee camp in Malawi, Africa, coordinating refugee resettlement pre-departure training and logistics. These experiences, along with the incredible support of VIU faculty and staff, inspired her to pursue graduate studies and a career in international development. She is extremely proudto be VIU alumni.
She is currently working as a Research Assistant preparing background documents and funding applications for an international conference hosted by Carleton University in Ottawa on Canada’s role in the global refugee regime. In 2015, she will begin work as a Junior Policy Analyst with the Global Health Division at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development. Katie previously worked as an HIV/AIDS Intern with the Canadian Labour Congress assisting with preparations to implement an HIV/AIDS Work Place Strategy in West Africa and as a Program Assistant for the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) in Dzaleka refugee camp in Malawi. She is extremely passionate about working in international development and contributing to the empowerment of women and girls around the world.