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Rafael Velasquez Garcia 0 220x220 - Rafael Alejandro Velasquez Garcia

Rafael Alejandro Velasquez Garcia

Head of Mission, Colombia and Venezuela, International Rescue Committee

Bio Current as of July 9, 2018

Rafael Velasquez Garcia currently leads the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) presence in Colombia and Venezuela. He oversees a multi-project portfolio focused on child and adolescent protection, gender-based violence, primary and reproductive health and economic recovery and development. The International Rescue Committee’s mission is to respond to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and help people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. 

He has built up a solid background of on-the-field experience covering complex emergencies and testing innovative emergency response strategies in Sudan, Ethiopia, Yemen, the Central African Republic, Jordan, Syria, Nigeria and Guatemala. Rafael is also a visiting professor at the United Nations University for Peace where he teaches Complex Project Management once a year. 

With a B.A in Political Science from Simon Fraser University and an M.A. in International Peace Studies from the United Nations University for Peace, Rafael has managed humanitarian and conflict mitigation programs for the last 15 years working for the United Nations, Plan International, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Mercy Corps, and the Norwegian Refugee Council, among others.