Rafa is working on urban governance and metropolitan management at global level. He is Engineer, Magister in development, and Specialist in development, public policies and project management. In 2010 he joined to UN-Habitat where he has held several positions related with public information, knowledge management and project management, collaborating with UN-Habitat offices in Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico and Kenia.

In 2014 Rafa started the Programme of Metropolitan and Urban-Regional Integration of UN-Habitat in Colombia. During 2017-2018 he led the Urban Safety, Governance and Legislation portfolio of UN-Habitat for the Andean Countries. Since 2019, he is part of the Policy, Legislation and Governance Section at UN-Habitat.

Rafa has participated in several publications as author, coauthor, chair and coordinator, and he has been lecturer, instructor and visiting professor at universities in Colombia, Mexico, Argentina and United States. He is fluent in Spanish, English and Portuguese.