NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF NEW ZEALAND PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF NEW ZEALAND PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

(Based on information received from the Protocol and Liaison Service.)

Rosemary Banks, the new Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the United Nations, today presented her credentials to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Prior to her current appointment, Ms. Banks served since December 2000 as Deputy Secretary of Multilateral Affairs at New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  Having begun her diplomatic career in 1975, Ms. Banks held numerous other positions at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, including Director of the Development Cooperation Division in 2000, Director of the North Asia Division from 1997 to 1999, Director of the Information and Public Affairs Division from 1996 to 1997, and Deputy Director of Personnel from 1990 to 1992.

From 1992 to 1995, Ms. Banks served as the Deputy High Commissioner to New Zealand’s Embassy in Canberra, Australia.  From 1987 to 1988, she was Director of the Auckland Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and from 1985 to 1987, she served as Deputy High Commissioner to her country’s embassy in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

In the first 10 years of government service, Ms. Banks held various positions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, including in the Development, Economics and United Nations Divisions.  She was also posted to the New Zealand Mission to the United Nations in Geneva and New York.

Ms. Banks holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, and a Master of Science degree from the London School of Economics.

Born in 1951 in Christchurch, New Zealand, Ms. Banks is married.

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