Biographical Note

New Permanent Observer for Inter-Parliamentary Union Presents Appointment Letter

(Based on information provided by the Protocol and Liaison Service)

The new Permanent Observer for the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) at the United Nations, Miguel Bermeo-Estrella, presented his letter of appointment to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today.

A national of Ecuador, Mr. Bermeo-Estrella brings 34 years of experience working with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), both at Headquarters and in the field.  Until his latest appointment, he was Deputy Director of that agency’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery in 2006.  Between 2002 and 2006, he was UNDP Resident Representative and United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka.

Mr. Bermeo-Estrella was Director of Programme and Policy with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) from 1997 to 2002, and Chief of Regional Programmes at the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean from 1995 to 1997.  He served as United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in the Dominican Republic from 1993 to 1995, and as Chief of Operations for UNV in Geneva between 1989 and 1992.

Prior to his service as a Policy Officer in the Division of Personnel from 1986 to 1988, Mr. Bermeo-Estrella was the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Panama between 1982 and 1986, having previously been the Assistant Resident Representative in Pakistan from 1980 to 1982.  He was a Regional Project Officer in UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific between 1976 and 1980, after having joined the agency in 1974 as a United Nations Volunteer in Sudan.

A national of Ecuador, he holds a master’s degree in economics.

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For information media • not an official record