NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UNITED STATES PRESENTS CREDENTIALS TO DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF UNOG

Betty E. King, the new Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations Office at Geneva, today presented her credentials to Sergei A. Ordzhonikidze, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva.

From 1997 to 2001, Ms. King served as the United States Representative to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, during which time, among others, she was the principal negotiator of the United States on the Millennium Development Goals, and served on the executive boards of the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Population Fund. The new Permanent Representative of the United States also has an extensive background in philanthropy. Most recently, she has been the Senior Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer of the California Endowment, where she worked to improve health services and systems. In addition, from 1990 to 1997, Ms. King was the Vice President and Director of Operations at the Annie E Casey Foundation, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of disadvantaged children.

Ms. King has also worked in the public service, notably as a Deputy Commissioner for Mental Health Services in the District of Columbia and as Director of the Department on Aging in Arkansas. She currently serves on the boards of Refugees International, the United Nations Association of the United States, Phoenix House and on the Advisory Board of the Annenberg School of Public Diplomacy.

Born in St. Vincent, West Indies, Ms. King did her undergraduate studies at the University of Windsor (Canada). She has a Master’s degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook (United States), and has also been a fellow at Harvard University and the University of California in Los Angeles (United States).


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CR10/008E