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

Germán Mundaraín Hernández, the new Permanent Representative of Venezuela 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. Mundaraín Hernández had been serving in the post of National Human Rights Ombudsman, following his election by the National Assembly of Venezuela for the period 2000 to 2007. In 2006, he also served as a member of the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, a forum that operates in cooperation with the United Nations, and as the president of the Iberoamerican Ombudsman Federation, from 2003 to 2005.

Mr. Mundaraín Hernández began his career as a lawyer with a specialization in financial affairs, in particular working in the area of international crime and money-laundering. In 1994, he was the Venezuelan delegate to the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Quito, Ecuador. In 1995, Mr. Mundaraín Hernández was the External Legal Adviser to the Bank Superintendency on Capital Legitimation, as well as the head of the Venezuelan delegation to the preparatory sessions of the Summit of the Americas conferences on money-laundering held by the OAS in Washington, D.C. In 1997, he was the External Assessor of the National Commission for the Illicit Use of Drugs. Concurrently, from 1977 to 2000, Mr. Mundaraín Hernández continued to work as a lawyer, and was the President of the Mundaraín & Associates Law Firm.

Mr. Mundaraín Hernández received his law degree from the Central University of Venezuela in 1977.

Born on 29 May 1950 in Cariaco, Venezuela, Mr. Mundaraín Hernández is married with three children.


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CR08019E