We are the independent accountability office of the IDB Group. We receive complaints from communities in the region alleging that they have been harmed by projects financed by one of the Group’s institutions as a result of noncompliance with one or more of its operational policies.
Andrea Repetto Vargas, a Chilean lawyer, is the Director of the IDB Group’s Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism since 2021. She is mediator and has more than 15 years of experience in accountability mechanisms, promotion of the observance of human rights and mediation in Latin America and Africa.
Andrea joined the CAO in 2010 as a conflict resolution specialist for the CAO, where she managed multi-stakeholder dialogue processes in a variety of sectors in Latin America and West Africa to address complex problems of environmental and social projects including health, water, labor, resettlement , land and pollution.
Before joining the CAO, Andrea worked at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, following up on human rights and international humanitarian law aspects of the demobilization process of the illegal armed group United Forces of Self-Defense of Colombia (AUC), and as Country attorney for Brazil. She also worked in Chile on matters of public interest to academic and non-governmental organizations.
Andrea graduated from the Universidad Diego Portales in Chile with a Master's degree in International and Comparative Law from the George Washington University School of Law.
Gastón Aín, Consultation Phase Coordinator since 2017. He is responsible for MICI’s conflict resolution phase, which provides an impartial and egalitarian space where different parties can address issues raised in a complaint, with the objective of reaching an agreeable solution for all.
Prior to joining MICI, Gastón, of Argentinean nationality, was the conflict prevention and dialogue regional advisor for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Latin America and the Caribbean; and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) Resident Director in Ruanda, carrying out missions in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He was also a public official at the Organization of American States (OAS) working and living in Washington DC, Haiti, Ecuador and Colombia. In Argentina, he worked for several institutions, including the Buenos Aires City Government, and the National Congress.
Gastón is a lawyer. He graduated from the School of Laws and Social Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires, specialist on dialogue, conflict prevention and conflict resolution. He holds a master’s degree in International Affairs by the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and a master’s degree in Public Policy Management by the Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, in Spain. His native language is Spanish, but he also speaks English, French and Portuguese.
Kattya Araya, a Costa Rican lawyer, is the Compliance Review Phase Coordinator since 2022. She is responsible for coordinating the compliance investigations in cases authorized by the Board of Executive Directors, and is assisted in that work by members of the Roster of Experts.
Prior to joining MICI, she served as Ombudsperson for the United Nations University for Peace, where she worked on the promotion and compliance processes of policies against discrimination, harassment, abuse of power, and retaliation, and conducted investigations into prohibited practices. At the same time Araya served as director of Public and Environmental Law at the global law firm Dentons. Her experience with accountability mechanisms includes being a member of the Civil Service Tribunal of Costa Rica for over eight years, forming part of the organisms that investigate breaches of internal control regulations and management of public funds, and as a member of the Qualifying Commission for Foreign Service in the Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ms. Araya has a specialization in Administrative Law from the University of Costa Rica, and a Master of Law degree from the University of Houston in Texas, as well as a professional certification in Public Private Partnerships, CP3P-F, from APMG International.
Spanish is her first language; she is also fluent in English, and speaks Portuguese and French.
María Camila Barriga is Colombian national with experience in conflict resolution, accountability, and public policy design and analysis. María Camila is currently a specialist in the Consultation Phase of MICI. Previously, she worked in the area of dispute resolution at the transparency mechanism of the World Bank Group International Finance Corporation (IFC/CAO). There, she worked on multiple cases mainly in Latin America and Africa. Prior to that, Maria Camila served as a case officer for the MICI Consultation Phase between 2017 and 2021. During this period, she managed cases in Haiti, Argentina and Colombia. Additionally, she had worked in consulting firms in Colombia in the design and implementation of projects for different public entities in areas of transparency and citizen participation.
María Camila has a degree in Government and International Relations from the Universidad Externado de Colombia and a Masters in International Affairs from the Institute of Political Studies of Paris (Sciences-Po Paris).
Languages: Spanish, English, and French.
Amanda Beaujon, a dual citizen of Venezuela and Spain, has spent over 10 years in social and economic development and is currently a Case Specialist of MICI’s Compliance Review Phase. She has broad experience in advising operational teams, managers, and other stakeholders of infrastructure and energy projects to ensure successful implementation of environmental and social frameworks.
Before joining the MICI team, Amanda served as a Social Development Specialist at the IDB’s Infrastructure and Energy Sector. Prior to that, she supported the implementation of the social agenda of the Climate Investment Funds at the World Bank (WB). She also worked at different nonprofit organizations and research centers in the U.S. and Latin America, including the National Democratic Institute (NDI), and the International Center for Energy and Environment (CIEA).
Amanda holds a master’s degree in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and a BA in Political Studies from Universidad Central de Venezuela.
Languages: English and Spanish.
María Elisa Dugo, an Argentine national, has been a Case Analyst of the Compliance Verification Phase since May 2020. Before joining the MICI team, she worked at the Environmental Protection Agency of Buenos Aires City Government and previously in the private sector. Also, she has experience in research and teaching at the University of Buenos Aires and other institutions. Her career is focused on the development and application of environmental and social policies.
She holds a law degree from the Universidad Católica Argentina, a Specialization in Environmental Law degree from the University of Belgrano and a Master's in Global Environmental Policy from the American University in the United States.
María Elisa is a native Spanish speaker, in addition she is fluent in English.
Marcos Favero, a Brazilian national, is a facilitator, mediator and researcher. He has worked mainly with non-governmental organizations but has also experience in the private sector and in the academia.
Before being at the MICI, Marcos worked with dialogue facilitation in virtual and offline environments. He also worked with conflict transformation and dialogue facilitation training, program design and program management in intercultural dialogue. He also worked as a researcher and a professor.
Marcos has a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the São Paulo State University (Brazil), a postgraduate certificate in Social Environmental Conflict Transformation from the University Antonio Ruiz de Montoya (Peru), and a master’s degree in Peace, Conflict and Development Studies from the University of Bradford (UK).
Marcos is a native Portuguese speaker, he is also fluent in English and Spanish, and has advanced knowledge in French.
Rebeca García, a native of Mexico, has been the MICI’s Senior Office Support and Administrative Assistant since 2010.
Rebeca has worked at the Inter-American Development Bank for more than 20 years as an Executive Assistant in the Office of the Executive Directors for Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Prior to that, she worked at the Mexican Treasury Department as the Assistant to the Director of International Financial Bodies.
She studied International Communications at Northern Virginia Community College, and has a degree in Bilingual Executive Secretarial Studies from the Michigan Institute of Mexico.
Rebeca’s native language is Spanish; she also speaks English and has basic knowledge of Portuguese.
Sebastian Gonzalez, a Portuguese and Colombian citizen, is an Associate in MICI’s Dispute Resolution team, which he joined in September 2017. As such, he has participated in the management of over 80 MICI Requests, throughout the registration, eligibility, and consultation phase stages. Prior to joining MICI, Sebastian worked as a consultant for the IDB’s Budget and Administrative Services Department aiding in the establishment of information and data management policies, and in the execution of department-level evaluations and policy adoption reviews. Prior to that, he worked at the Office of the General Counsel of American University, where he collaborated in the management of legal cases of various topics including the dig for chemical and toxic weapons in Spring Valley, criminal hazing activity on college campuses and trademark infringement.
Sebastian holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a specialization in Organizational Behavior and Information Technology from American University, and a Master’s in business with a concentration in Governance, Risk Management and Compliance from Georgetown University.
He speaks Portuguese, English, Spanish and French.
Andrea Guevara, an Ecuadorian lawyer, with specialization in international environmental law. She has experience in environmental and social strengthening in accountability mechanisms.
She has worked with the public, private, and nonprofit organizations. Her area of specialization includes biodiversity and indigenous peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean region. Before working at the MICI, she worked as an evaluator and case officer at the World Bank's Grievance Redress Service. Andrea has also worked in the Independent Redress Service with the Green Climate Fund, in The Nature Conservancy and in the Aguinda vs. Chevron case in favor of the Union of Affected People by Chevron in Ecuador. She holds a degree from Universidad de las Américas (UDLA) in Ecuador and a Master's degree in International Environmental Law (LL.M.) from American University Washington College of Law in the United States.
Andrea is a native Spanish speaker, she is also fluent in English, and has advanced knowledge in Portuguese.
Camila Luz is a Communication Consultant at MICI. She is Brazilian and has 10 years of experience in journalism, digital projects and communication in international organizations.
Before joining the MICI team, she worked as a Communications Consultant at ITE, the IDB's Information Technology Department. She was also a Communications Consultant at the United Nations (UN), contributing to the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE).
After graduating in Journalism, she specialized in International Media at the University of Paris 8 and has a Masters in Journalism and Human Rights and Humanitarian Action from Sciences Po Paris.
Her native language is Portuguese, she speaks fluent English, French and Spanish and is learning Italian.
Martin Packmann, an Argentine national, is a Case Officer for the Consultation Phase since March, 2017.
His professional experience has been based in the field of analysis and conflict resolution, dialogue process design and public advocacy, with a specific emphasis on socio-environmental conflicts regarding extractive industry development in Argentina and Latin America. Furthermore, Martin has experience in project design and implementation, as well as public policy analysis. Previous to his involvement at MICI, he has worked with civil society organizations, including Fundación Cambio Democrático, and in the public sector at the National Secretariat of Human Rights and Cultural Pluralism, both in Argentina.
Martín has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA-Argentina), and a master’s degree in Administration and Public Policy from the University of San Andrés (Argentina). He has also participated and conducted trainings and courses related to conflict resolution.
Esteve Sala is the Communications Officer of MICI. Born in Barcelona, he has over 20 years of professional experience in Journalism, Corporate Communications and digital media projects.
Before joining the accountability office of the IDB Group, Esteve supported the communication strategy of the Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice at the World Bank, and was editor of the Jobs and Development blog. Previously, he worked at the Inter-American Development Bank, where he led and implemented the communication strategy of the Labor Markets Division and the Gender and Diversity Division.
Esteve worked as a broadcast journalist in different media outlets for more than 15 years and led multiple online and new media projects. He was professor of Journalism and served as consultant for several projects led by the International Center for Journalists.
He is a native Spanish and Catalan speaker, he is fluent in English and has a working knowledge of Portuguese and French.
Esteban Tovar, of Mexican nationality, has been Registration Officer since June 2016. His work experience has been in both the private and public sectors in Mexico. Before joining MICI he served as Coordinator of the Office of Corporate Affairs and Industry of the Aeromexico Group where he carried out economic and political analysis related to the airline industry and Aeromexico’s relations with governments, labor unions, and the media. In the public sector, he worked for the Technical Secretariat of the National Security Council of the Office of the Mexican Presidency on communication activities.
He has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) and a master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley.
Spanish is his native language, but he is also fluent in English.
Julio Vázquez, a citizen of Mexico and the United States, is a Case Assistant for the Compliance Review Phase since November, 2020.
Before joining MICI, he focused on human rights issues in Latin America. He previously worked as an executive assistant at the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) providing administrative support to lawyers litigating human rights cases, and to the executive director. He also interned at the Central America Monitor of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and the Organization of American States.
Julio holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla. His native language is Spanish and he also speaks English and Portuguese.