Inés Yábar
Name: Inés Yábar
Pronouns: She/Her
Organisations: Senior Global Campaigns Coordinator at Restless Development; L.O.O.P.; TECHO; Ensemble Pour TECHO
Country of origin: Peru
Profile
Inés Yábar is a youth activist and leader from Peru. She said for her, volunteering and campaigning for a better world is her passion and she has the privilege of making this her career as well. In her work, Inés addresses poverty and the environmental crisis facing the world, and especially Latin America. She is currently involved in multiple organisations.
Inés has been actively volunteering since she was 15. Over ten years ago, she became involved in the Peruvian social impact company L.O.O.P., which works to address plastic pollution. Inés grew from a volunteer to an employee and now a board member, overseeing and coordinating the volunteers and communication within the group. Simultaneously, she also joined TECHO, an organisation active throughout Latin America, which helps battle poverty by raising funds and assisting in building homes in her home country’s impoverished communities. While studying in France, Inés was inspired by TECHO and co-founded Ensemble Pour TECHO, seeking to raise European interest and funding for poverty in Latin America. Inés is also a board member of the organisations Msichana Empowerment Kuria and YOURS, a Sharing Strategies Strategic Advisory Team member (SIAG), a curator for the Lima Hub of Global Shapers 2024-2025 and a United Nations Foundation Lead Next Generation Fellow.
Story
Inés Yábar said that her desire to protect the Earth and the people around her grew from principles instilled by her Christian upbringing and the privilege she had to choose her own path in life. Inés said, ‘Not everyone can spend a lot of time volunteering. A lot of people have to find other jobs to sustain themselves’. She said she is grateful for beginning to volunteer at the age of 15 and being able to turn that into a career path. She truly believes that by being able to work in a field that she is passionate about, she can contribute to her job and the social and environmental causes she is involved with to the best of her abilities. Knowing this, Inés now commits to the motto of not ‘work[ing] in something you don’t love’, if you have that option. She said this approach ensures that she feels fulfilled and is able to bring inspiration and energy to her workplace.
Inés said that despite her gratitude for her scholarship in France, she still recognises that the commitment can take a toll on an individual. Yet she considers it an honour to be able to offer her time and skills toward a good cause. Inés said it is ‘about how ingrained it is in your values’ – she believes that volunteering gave her just as much as she was able to give to it. She also said that while higher education is fantastic for opening up your field of opportunities, she has learned just as much volunteering as she has at school.
As Inés advocates for both social and environmental issues, she said she faces certain challenges when working toward two separate objectives. Regarding her time with Restless Development, she said, ‘They’re not siloed, it's not an environmental NGO or a humanitarian NGO, but it’s a “holistic” NGO.’ This comprehensive outlook allows her to ensure she works toward a desirable end goal, even if some personal costs, such as flights, need to be paid in the process. Inés also faces the struggle of balancing the strengths of youth-led organisations with the logistical, communication and problem-solving skills that are more evident with a more experienced team. She believes in the need for youth voices, which are best heard if spoken and amplified directly. Yet, she recognises that a lack of experience can bring certain challenges, and therefore she also acknowledges the strengths that an intergenerational body of management and volunteers brings.
To those wanting to start their own peacebuilding initiative, Inés advises treating any interaction, whether it be one among colleagues of different ages or leadership status, as ‘not a battle but a cooperation’. She said that building trust through dialogue and developing personal respect can result in favourable outcomes which otherwise could have gone undiscovered. Reflecting on her journey of volunteering and her career, Inés stressed the importance of her first step – ‘realizing [she had] something to give’.
Published in 2026