Biographical Note

SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS GIANCARLO SUMMA OF ITALY DIRECTOR

OF UNITED NATIONS INFORMATION CENTRE IN RIO DE JANEIRO

 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Giancarlo Summa of Italy as Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  He took up his duties on 17 September 2007.

Mr. Summa has a strong public information background, coupled with professional experience in Brazil over the course of 13 years working with the Government, as a journalist and with a non-governmental organization, the Centro Ecumenico de Documentacao e Informacao (CEDI).  He was the Deputy Communication Coordinator and International Media Officer for the presidential campaign of Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva from August until November 2006.  Prior, he was the Press and Information Officer for Europe with the Inter-American Development Bank (September 2003 to August 2006), head of the Sao Paulo Office of Radiobras (April to August 2003), the Deputy Communication Coordinator and Head of the Press Office for the World Social Forum 2003 in Brazil (December 2002 to February 2003) and an International Media Officer with the presidential campaign of Mr. Lula da Silva (July to November 2002).

Previously, Mr. Summa worked as a reporter, editor and foreign correspondent for several news organizations, including Reuters news agency, the Brazilian magazine CartaCapital and the Italian newspapers L’Unità and La Stampa.

Mr. Summa holds a master’s degree in Latin American studies from the Université Paris III -- Sorbonne Nouvelle, with a dissertation dedicated to the role of the media in the politics of Brazil.  He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in liberal arts from Excelsior College, State University of New York.

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For information media • not an official record