What are some practical steps a lawyer can take to begin a career in international law and development?
The two great activities are learning and helping. Do everything you can to educate yourself about the issues in development work. There are phrases nation-building, state-building, institution-building, peace-building, development assistance, emergency aid which have imprecise meanings, but if you study them critically and understand them as working tools, rather than divine or immutable concepts, and start to tug on them, then like threads to a seam, youll be drawn to intersections of thought and action. Once you get a handle on some of the basic ideas, look around your own community and see what organisations there are that are doing those kinds of things, and get involved. In many Canadian cities there are new immigrant support organisations or welcome centres, survivors of torture offices, and branches of major human rights organisations and aid agencies (Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, PEN International, CARE, Save the Children,) including Canadian-based international
