MYA THAN OF MYANMAR ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF FIRST COMMITTEE
Press Release
BIO/3321
GA/DIS/3166
MYA THAN OF MYANMAR ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF FIRST COMMITTEE
20000905 Biographical NoteMya Than, the Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the United Nations Office in Geneva, was this afternoon elected Chairman of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) for the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly.
Mr. Than has been closely associated with the work of the United Nations in various capacities since 1984, in particular, with disarmament and international security issues. He served twice as Deputy Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the United Nations in Geneva, from 1985 to 1990, and from 1992 to 1996, and dealt with disarmament questions in the Conference on Disarmament, before his appointment as the Permanent Representative to Geneva in 1999.
He has served in various capacities at the preparatory committee meetings of the 1988 Conference on Combating Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and at the meetings of the World Health Assembly in Geneva.
He held a number of senior positions in his country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs; as Director-General of the Department of Foreign Languages, Research and Training (1998-1999); Deputy Director-General of the International Organizations and Economic Department (1996 and 1997); and as Director of the International Organizations Division of the Ministry (1990-1992).
Mr.Than received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Yangon Arts and Science University; and a Diploma in Education from the Institute of Education in Yangon. In 1971, he attended a foreign service training course conducted by the Department of Foreign Affairs in Canberra, Australia. From 1982 to 1983, he attended the Foreign Service Training Programme at Oxford University in the United Kingdom and pursued specialized studies in international law.
Born in 1944, Mr. Than is married and has a son.
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