Paola Arjona Caycedo is a specialist in international cooperation and the internationalization of local governments, with more than twenty years of professional experience across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Throughout her career, she has worked with national and subnational governments, international organizations, city networks, and civil society organizations, leading initiatives in institutional strengthening, decentralized cooperation, the localization of global agendas, sustainable urban development, and multilevel governance.
Since 2021, she has served as Senior Advisor in the International Relations and Cooperation Division of the Municipality of Montevideo, where she has co-led the development of the city’s International Action Strategy and the Roadmap for the Localization of the 2030 Agenda. In this role, she has promoted strategic partnerships, resource mobilization, technical cooperation, and multi-stakeholder coordination processes.
Previously, she held leadership and coordination positions at the Euro-Latin American Alliance for Cooperation among Cities (AL-LAs), the Presidential Agency for International Cooperation of Colombia (APC-Colombia), and the Colombian Federation of Municipalities. In these roles, she advanced regional international cooperation programmes, capacity-building initiatives, and policy advocacy efforts, contributing to the recognition of local governments as key actors in global governance.
Her expertise combines strategic planning, programme design and management, resource mobilization, knowledge generation, multi-stakeholder dialogue facilitation, and capacity development, contributing to the localization of global agendas and the development of more inclusive, resilient, and equitable cities committed to the right to the city.
Paola holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, and a specialization in International Cooperation and Development Project Management from the Universidad Externado de Colombia and Columbia University. She has also worked as an author, editor, and lecturer throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, and Spain.
