Carolina Barco has devoted her professional career to diplomacy and public policy. She served as Colombia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2002 to 2006 and as ambassador to the United States from 2006 to 2010.
In the field of economic and urban development, she worked as a researcher and consultant for the UNDP and for Colombia’s Ministries of Education, Culture, and Economic Development. She was director of Bogotá’s Administrative Department of District Planning from 1998 to 2001 and, more recently, served as a consultant to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) from 2010 to 2018, contributing to the design and implementation of the Emerging and Sustainable Cities Program and the IDB Cities Network.
She has been recognized with numerous honors, including the Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit, awarded by the Government of Colombia (2010), and the Legion of Honor in the rank of Commander bestowed by the Government of France (2008). She has also received national orders from the governments of Peru, El Salvador, Honduras, Spain, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Guatemala, Paraguay, Ecuador, Brazil, and the Philippines.
On January 18, 2019, she assumed her post as Colombia’s ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain and the Principality of Andorra, sworn in by Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo. Strengthening relations in the areas of cooperation, trade and investment, tourism, agriculture, science and technology, culture, education, and sports, as well as across multilateral, regional, and global issues, are the principal goals of the Diplomatic Mission in the already excellent relationship between Spain and Colombia.
Barco holds a master’s in urban planning from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and an MBA from the Instituto de Empresa Business School in Madrid.
Carolina Barco was an event speaker at the Dialogue.
