US Mission Geneva

Today, President Barack Obama announced that Thomas Paul D’Agostino, Under Secretary for Nuclear Security of the Department of Energy and Administrator for Nuclear Security of the National Nuclear Security Administration, will continue serving in his current role.

Mr. Griffiths joined the Foreign Service in 1988 and served in Quebec City, Canada, Lisbon, Portugal, and Maputo, Mozambique before returning to Washington, D.C. Upon completion of the Department of State’s nine-month economic course, Mr. Griffiths worked on the South Africa desk during that country’s transition to democracy. In Rabat, Morocco, he served as First Secretary of Economic Affairs, specializing in economic development and trade promotion. As Counselor for International Economic Affairs at the U.S. Mission in Geneva, Mr. Griffiths advanced U.S. economic, development and environmental goals at the United Nations. Mr. Griffiths served as Deputy Chief of Mission and chargé d’affaires, a.i. at the United States Embassy to the Republic of Haiti from 2004 to 2006, where the United States played a leading role responding to natural disasters and making significant improvements in Haiti’s public health sector. As Principal Officer at the United States Consulate General in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Mr. Griffiths led a team of eighty professionals to protect and advance U.S. interests in the commercial and agriculture heartland of Ecuador, including the Galapagos Islands.

The United States is pleased to note the election of Professor Dinah Shelton to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). Professor Shelton, a skilled legal scholar, joins the seven-member commission dedicated to reviewing cases on human rights within the framework of the inter-American system’s legal instruments. Her three-year term begins in January 2010. Professor Shelton is the first woman nominated by the United States to the IACHR.

United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk today applauded the United States Senate for the confirmation of Demetrios Marantis as Deputy United States Trade Representative. Marantis will be responsible for U.S. trade negotiations and enforcement in Asia and Africa. He will also lead USTR global initiatives on trade and development, labor, and the environment.