Paulina Loreto Jara-Osorio is Research Assistant for the project: Promoting “Total Peace”: Co-learning and empowerment for peacebuilding in Colombia.
Paulina is a social worker from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. She furthered her expertise by pursuing a Master’s in Public and Social Policies at Pompeu Fabra University, in partnership with Johns Hopkins University.
Throughout her academic journey, Paulina has been fortunate to receive support from esteemed institutions. The John Paul II Foundation funded her undergraduate studies, while her pursuit of higher education, including her Master's and PhD degrees, has been made possible through sponsorship from the National Research and Development Agency at the Chilean Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge, and Innovation.
Furthermore, she has been a consultant for the European Union, the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration, and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.
Her special fields of interest are public and social policies. Her main skills are design, planning, management, and evaluation of public and social policies, which have been acquired through her professional experience in different public organizations of Chile, such as the Ministry of the Interior and Public Security, National Minors Service, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of Housing, among others.
In her master’s thesis, Paulina identified the need for a relational change in Chilean public schools. However, the promotion of this change transcends the student space since childhood would develop in contexts where violent dynamics are reproduced and promoted. For this reason, her current doctoral research focuses on Chilean Public and Social Policies in Childhood, regarding the revision of the current system that exists in the country and how the participation of children and young people develop in it.
Her PhD research is examining whether it is necessary to incorporate childhood participation in Public Policy Making in Chile and the possible consequences of this aim for childhood, policy making and social programs in which they are part. Reflection regards the pros and cons in the promotion of children’s and adolescent’s participation would enlighten what type of childhood participation should be promoted through a system that guarantees the protection of the exercise of children's rights in Chile.
Within the areas in which she has deepened her knowledge during her academic and work experience, the following are relayed: childhood, education, participation, social and school violence, social inequalities as well as the field of international relations, cultural management and socio-urban intervention through art and culture, and social planning, with emphasis on territory.
Currently, Paulina is actively contributing her expertise and skills to the Promoting Total Peace Project.
Paulina has been a Lecturer in research methodologies; design, and evaluation of social projects. Moreover, she has guided final thesis and practices in the Social Work degree programme at the University of the Americas in Chile.
- Jara-Osorio, P. (2024), “Giving voice to children and adolescents in Chile: Lessons from the participatory research Mosaic approach”. Pincock, K., Jones, N., van Blerk, L., Gumbonzvanda, N. (Eds.) Young People in the Global South. Voice, Agency, and Citizenship. Routledge, Oxon, New York, pp. 79-89. ISBN 9781032377414
- Jara-Osorio, P. (2023), "Childhood Participation in Chile: Debts and Opportunities from Child Protagonism", Frankel, S. (Ed.) Establishing Child Centred Practice in a Changing World, Part B (Emerald Studies in Child Centred Practice), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 219-229. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80455-940-620231015
- Jara-Osorio, P. (2019). Wages, incomes, and wealth inequalities in Chile: origins and main characteristics. González Cortés et al. (Eds). The challenge of a more horizontal and less unequal society. Universitas Nueva Civilización, Santiago, pp. 301-314. ISBN: 978-956-9409-27-1
- Jara-Osorio, P & Cortes-Mora, C. (2018). The permanence of Latin American immigrants in Barcelona. Factors that affect the permanence of Bolivians and Colombians in a context of economic crisis. Spanish Academic Editorial (EAE), Letonia. ISBN 978-3-330-09725-4