Leadership
Maria Paula Martinez
Managing Director, Latin America and Caribbean Regional Hub
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A lawyer by profession, Maria Paula has more than 25 years of professional experience dedicated to upholding the rights of girls, adolescents, youth, and women, affected by the dynamics of armed conflict and generalized violence, migration, human mobility in the LAC region, as well as by the effects of natural disasters and climate change.
She holds master’s degrees in Culture of Peace from the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, in Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law from the Universidad Externado de Colombia, as well as specializations in corporate governance and leadership. Thanks to her experience in humanitarian and cooperation organizations, and recently, as executive director of Save the Children Colombia, Maria Paula has vast experience in ensuring the right to health and sexual and reproductive rights, in giving a voice to girls and adolescents to participate in decisions that involve them and in directing programs aimed at preventing and addressing gender-based violence of thousands of adolescents and women from Venezuela, binational indigenous communities and Colombian population in the most vulnerable situations. Her holistic and proactive approach, her visionary and creative style, have earned her several international awards. Maria Paula speaks Spanish, French and English.