“My mother was my inspiration and always treated us, her daughters, in exactly the same way as our brothers,” says Anastasie Nyirigira Mukangarambe, as she reminisces about her childhood in Rwanda.

The genocide in Rwanda made a deep impression on Anastasie. “It raised so many questions in my mind, the answers to which I’m still trying to find. I was left with a profound need to be a changemaker,” she reveals.

“I believed that the violence in Rwanda, which has scarred all of us for many lifetimes, was preventable,” she continues. “This was instrumental in my decision to join United Nations Peacekeeping. I wanted to do everything I could to make sure other countries did not suffer through the same fate as Rwanda.”

It was a long journey for Anastasie that has spanned Liberia, Mali, undivided Sudan and now, South Sudan, the world’s newest country. “I joined at a very junior level and I was often frustrated because I didn’t feel I was substantively contributing to preventing conflict. But I persevered and here I am, leading the UNMISS Field Office in Kuajok. I feel that now I can finally make the impact I always wanted to,” she says smiling.

Her days are irregular to say the least. “When you’re heading a field office, your life is dictated by unfolding events on the ground. I’m up at dawn, catch up with news and family before heading to the office.”

Much of her work is outside the office dealing with numerous external stakeholders including the communities in Kuajok. “I work in a part of South Sudan where intercommunal conflict and where loss of lives is a daily occurrence. Early and forced marriages are common and cases of rape rarely see perpetrators brought to justice. It can be heartbreaking and, at times disrupts the balance between your personal and professional life,” she admits.