NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF CUBA PRESENTS CREDENTIALS TO DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF UNOG

Juan Antonio Fernandez Palacios, the new Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations Office at Geneva, today presented his credentials to Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva.

Prior to his appointment to Geneva, Mr. Fernandez Palacios had been serving as Director of the Multilateral Affairs Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, a position he had held since 2001. He was the Deputy Director of the same department from 1997 to 2001. From 1993 to 1996, he served as Second Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations in New York, and from 1989 to 1992, he was a Desk Officer at the Multilateral Affairs Division of the Cuban Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Fernandez Palacios has participated in many international meetings organised within the context of the United Nations, including in 1992 and 1996 to 2003 at the Commission on Human Rights, in 1993 at the World Conference on Human Rights, in 1995 at the World Conference on Women, in 1996 at the World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, and in 2002 at the World Summit for Sustainable Development. He has also chaired and spoken at seminars and workshops organised by Cuban institutions and non-governmental organizations.

Mr. Fernandez Palacios has a PhD in international political relations from the Higher Institute of International Relations Raul Roa Garcia in Havana, Cuba. He is fluent in Spanish, English and French. He was born on 30 July 1963, and is married with two children.