Carolina Larriera

Carolina Larriera, born in Argentina, Bahía Blanca, on February 13, 1973, was an United Nations employee from 1995 to 2005. She holds a master's degree in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, where she was also a Mason Fellow, and a master's degree in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. Carolina graduated in Economics and Finance at New York University. She worked as an Associate Fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy (also at Harvard University), focusing on new sources of security for international organizations. Carolina joined the UN and worked as a volunteer until 1997, when she graduated in economics. Disillusioned with the financial market, she remained in the organization until she was assigned to Timor-Leste, where she served in that country's pacification and independence process until 2003. It was during this period that she met the Brazilian Sergio Vieira de Mello, who served as the UN High Commissioner in Timor, and the two developed a relationship. In 2003, both went to Baghdad and, a few months later, Hotel Canal, which had served as the UN headquarters for ten years, was the target of a suicide bombing that killed 22 people, including Sergio. At the time of the attack, she worked in her office in the same building and a few meters from Sergio's office, which was completely destroyed by the truck bomb. Images recorded by TVs right after the attack show Carolina desperate, screaming for Sergio's name in the rubble. Sergio still managed to contact Carolina and the rescue teams by cell phone, but died a few hours later. Carolina resigned from the UN in 2005, severely criticizing the lack of investigations into the incident. She continues to work in Brazil and Argentina on issues of human rights, public policy and leadership. She is currently a professor at PUC-Rio, Ibmec, and Insper; and also a speaker at UNESCO, NCPI, CLP-São Paulo.