NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF FRANCE PRESENTS CREDENTIALS TO THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT GENEVA

François Rivasseau, the new Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations Office at Geneva, today presented his credentials to Michael Møller, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva.

Prior to his appointment to Geneva, Mr. Rivasseau was Special Envoy for Space and Head of the Security Policy and Space Policy at the European External Action Service, where he served since 2015. Mr. Rivasseau had served as Deputy Chief of Mission in the Delegation of the European Union in the United States from 2011 to 2015, where he had been in charge of politico-military affairs; Minister-Counsellor and Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of France in the United States from 2007 to 2011; Permanent Representative of France to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva from 2003 to 2006; and assistant secretary for press and communication and spokesperson of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2000 to 2003.

As Deputy Permanent Representative of France to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva from 1998 to 2000, Mr. Rivasseau had participated in negotiations on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and the Ottawa Convention banning antipersonnel landmines. He had joined the French Foreign Service in 1987.

A graduate of the Institute of Political Studies of Bordeaux, Mr. Rivasseau also holds a doctorate in law from the University of Bordeaux I and a degree in Romance languages from the University of Bordeaux III. Born in 1954, Mr. Rivasseau is married and has four children.


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CR/18/035E