Ruvendrini, a Sri Lankan national, began her career with UNHCR as a legal officer and has since been on the frontlines of refugee situations. She has worked with UNHCR in Geneva, Washington, Bangkok and a number of other field locations.
Ruvendrini describes her daily work as anything from the sublime - such as when she supported the voluntary return of refugees after 30 years of exile - to the novel, pouring over a budget in search of funding for an artificial eye for a refugee. She enjoys the fact that UNHCR jobs are rarely “9 to 5,” that the work is never monotonous, and that daily schedules rarely go according to plan.
Ruvendrini admits that balancing personal and work life is possibly the most challenging aspect of humanitarian work. “Work / life balance is never easy to achieve in the type of work we do - particularly as you never really “clock off.”
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