TWO CANDIDATES TO STAND FOR ELECTION AS FAO DIRECTOR-GENERAL

Press Release
SAG/41

TWO CANDIDATES TO STAND FOR ELECTION AS FAO DIRECTOR-GENERAL

ROME, 14 June 14 (FAO) -- Jacques Diouf of Senegal and Juan Carlos Roland Vignaud of Argentina have been nominated for the post of Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the agency announced today.

Mr. Diouf, FAO Director-General since January 1994, was nominated by Senegal to run for a second six-year term. He was previously his country's Ambassador to the United Nations in New York, and had earlier served in a number of high-level national and international posts, including those of Secretary-General of the Central Bank of the West African States, Secretary of State for Science and Technology in the Government of Senegal, and Executive Secretary of the West African Rice Development Association and the African Groundnut Council. He was also member of the Senegalese Parliament. Mr. Diouf holds a Ph.D. in social sciences of the rural sector from the Sorbonne (Paris), as well as degrees in agriculture and tropical agronomy from the Ecole nationale d'agriculture (Grignon-Paris) and the Ecole nationale d'agronomie tropicale (Nogent-Paris). He was born on 1 August 1938.

Ambassador Vignaud was nominated by Argentina and is currently his country's Ambassador to Sweden. He has also been Secretary of State and Presidential Adviser on international socio-economic problems. He had earlier served in a number of diplomatic posts, including those of Consul General in Atlanta (United States), Ambassador to Norway and Iceland. He has also held different positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including those of Director General for Economic Relations and Director of the North America Bureau. In the 1970s, Ambassador Vignaud served as Permanent Representative of Argentina to FAO. He was also Director of the FAO Liaison Office in Geneva from 1984 to 1987. Ambassador Vignaud holds a degree in law from the University of Buenos Aires. He was born on 19 August 1937.

The Director-General of FAO is elected by a majority of votes cast by the agency's 175 member States. The election will take place at the beginning of the thirtieth session of the FAO Conference, to be held in Rome from 12 to 23 November.

- 2 - Press Release SAG/41 14 June 1999

For further information contact FAO Media Office at: (00 39) 06 57 05 36 25 or e-mail: john.riddle@fao.org

Enquiries should be directed to:

FAO Media-Office (Media-Office@fao.org) John Riddle, 0039-06-5705 3259, John.Riddle@FAO.Org Liliane Kambirigi, 0039-06-5705 3223, Liliane.Kambirigi@FAO.Org Erwin Northoff, 0039-06-5705 3105; e-mail: Erwin.Northoff@FAO.Org

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