Partner of Gonzalez Camacho with more than 9 years of experience providing advice on formulation, execution, and monitoring of investment projects with high social impact. She specializes in human rights and legal advice for management and capacity-building of organizations in the territory. 

 

As Advisor to the Legal Office of the Social Integration Secretariat of Bogota Town Hall, she coordinated the Duty to Report Procedure to guarantee the set of actions necessary to address, in coordination with competent authorities, situations that threaten, disregard, or violate the rights of the participants of the diverse social services.

 

Mrs. Varela served as Advisor to the Directorate of Government and Strategic Areas of the Presidency of the Republic of Colombia, and to the San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina Subaccount of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD), where she provided legal advice on social impact projects as a result of the ruling issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on November 19, 2012, on the conflict between Colombia and Nicaragua over territorial delimitation.

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She has broad experience on the prevention of human rights violations, in the formulation, execution, monitoring and evaluation of policies, programs and projects, and in executing strategies directed towards the benefit of the company, its employees, the communities and the environment.

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Mrs. Varela holds a Specialization in Social Management from the Higher School of Public Administration (ESAP), a Diploma in Business and Human Rights: Strategies to Improve Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance from Universidad Javeriana and Tirant Formacion, and an undergraduate degree in Law (LL.B.) from Universidad Javeriana in Cali, Colombia. She also has a Course on Gender and Mining Governance from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Intergovernmental Forum of Mining and Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF), and Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.