My name is Malin Pihlstroem and I am a 29-year-old student from Stockholm, Sweden. Later this year I will be graduating my master’s degree in Human Rights (Uppsala University) parallel with my master’s in Communication for Development (Malmo University).

Before enrolling in my Bachelor of Global Development (Stockholm University) back in 2016, I travelled many places and became invested in the idea of working with people from all over the world, as they taught me something new and insightful each day. As I have been interested and engaged in fighting injustices since childhood, women’s empowerment and peace and security issues have particularly developed to become my main focuses the last and coming years.

I have been awarded with a scholarship from Stockholm University to study Human Rights in Tianjin, China and another scholarship from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) which enabled me to conduct field studies on women’s empowerment in suburbs to Accra, Ghana. I have spent two semesters abroad studying Peace and Security, at ANU in Canberra, Australia and at Charles University in Prague, Chechia. Even though I am grateful for the time spent within the Swedish education system I have learned the most while studying abroad, being able to listen and understand other perspectives on relevant topics related to my studies.

In 2021 I completed an internship at Operation 1325, a Swedish civil society organization working with UNHCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security with a focus on the Middle East. My two master’s theses, which I am currently working on, focuses on Resolution 2272 and the relationship between the UN, Civil Society, and the independent media. I volunteer at my local women shelter as often as time allows and chat with adolescents one night a week supporting them in vulnerable situations.