During her 17 years of experience with WFP, Carmen Burbano de Lara has focused on supporting governments to improve the nutrition, education and wellbeing of children. Specifically, she is interested in tackling the interrelated issues of malnutrition, poor health and learning and in strengthening the national safety net systems designed to address these issues.

She has held management positions in Peru, Rome, Colombia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania; and provided temporary support to earthquake relief efforts in Haiti and Nepal. Ms. Burbano de Lara is WFP’s world expert in school feeding. In this capacity, she has advised the governments of China, Colombia and Kenya, Ghana, among others, often in partnership with the World Bank. She is the co-author of the most influential publications on school feeding over the last ten years including “Re-imagining school feeding: a human capital investment in health, education, social protection and agriculture” (2018); “The School Feeding Sourcebook” (2016); and “Rethinking School Feeding” (2009), published by the World Bank. She has authored WFP’s flagship publication “The State of School Feeding Worldwide” (2013) and conceived and drafted WFP’s Global School Feeding Policy (2013).

Prior to assuming her current position in July 2018, she was WFP’s Representative and Country Director in Peru. She has also worked in UNDP’s Executive Office.

Carmen is Ecuadorian and holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University and Bachelor in Latin-American Studies and Comparative Literature from New York University.