Maritza Chan Valverde (Costa Rica) Chair of First Committee

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

The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) elected Maritza Chan Valverde (Costa Rica) Chair on 6 June. (See Press Release GA/12605.)

Prior to her appointment as Permanent Representative of the United Nations, Ms. Chan was her country’s Deputy Permanent Representative at its Mission to the United Nations, beginning in 2020.  From 2018 to 2020, she served as Head, Political Section, at her country’s Embassy in Washington, D.C.  Between 2015 and 2017, she was Coordinator, Organization of the United States, in San Jose, Costa Rica.

She also held positions at the Costa Rica Mission to the United Nations from 2010 to 2015 and at its Mission to the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C., from 2005 to 2009.  From 2002 to 2005, she was stationed at Costa Rica’s Embassy in Washington, D.C.  She began her career as Senior Speech Writer for the President of Costa Rica from 1998 to 2002.

She is the first Costa Rican woman to serve as Ambassador to the United Nations since her country signed the Charter of the United Nations in 1945.

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* This supersedes Press Release BIO/5461 of 26 August 2022.