Chile

Permanent Representative of Chile to the UN

CURRICULUM VITAE AND DIPLOMATIC CAREER

Juan Somavia, has served as Chile's Permanent Representative to the United Nations since 1990. In May 1991, Mr. Somavia proposed the convening of a summit on social development, in a statement before the Economic and Social Council, and later that year was appointed Special Representative of the Secretary- General for consultations on the convening of such a summit. In 1992, after the General Assembly decided to convene the World Summit for Social Development Mr. Somavia was elected Chairman of the Preparatory Committee, which produced the draft declaration and draft programme of action now before the Summit for final negotiation and adoption.

As Chile's Permanent Representative, Mr. Somavia has served in many elected posts in United Nations bodies. In 1990, he was Chairman of the Assembly's Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural). In 1991 and 1992, he was vice-president of the Economic and Social Council and served as Chairman of both its Social Committee and Economic Committee. Those committees, which have now been subsumed into the plenary, met for the last time in 1993, when Mr. Somavia served as President of the Economic and Social Council.

In a career spanning more than three decades, Mr. Somavia has held diplomatic, governmental, non- governmental, academic and political posts, including several positions in Chile's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

From 1973 to 1975, he served as adviser to the Presidents of Mexico and Venezuela. He was consultant
to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Rapporteur of the Group of Eminent Persons studying the international implications of multilateral enterprises. Between 1976 and 1987, Mr. Somavia served in the following capacities:  founder and Executive Director of the Latin American Institute of Transnational  Studies in Mexico City; Coordinator of the Third World Forum; member of the   Board of Directors and Vice-President for Latin America of
Inter Press Service; member of the Executive Committee of the International Foundation for Development Alternatives; member of the MacBride Commission on communication problems, convened by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); member of the World Association of International   Relations; and member of the Committee for a Just World Peace.

In 1987, Mr. Somavia founded the South American Peace Commission and served as its Secretary-General, promoting the establishment of a South American zone of peace.

Among Mr. Somavia's political activities in Chile, he served, from1983 to 1989, as President of the International Commissions of: the Democratic   Alliance; the Civil Assembly; the "No" Plebiscite
Campaign; and the Coalition of Political Parties for Democracy.

From 1961 to 1973, Mr.  Somavia served Chile's foreign service in several capacities, among them,
economic adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador to the Andean Group. He was also
head of delegations to meetings of: the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean; the Organization of American States; the Latin American Free Trade Association; the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development; and the Second Committee (Economic,and Financial) of the General Assembly.

Mr. Somavia is a recipient of the 1988 Leonidas Proaņo Prize of the Latin American Human RightsAssoci-
ation for his contribution to peace and human rights. Educated in Chile, Netherlands, Belgium, United States, Ecuador and France, Mr. Somavia received a law degree from the Catholic University of Chile and a degree from the School of Law and Economic Sciences, University of Paris. Born on 21 April 1941, Mr. Somavia is married and has two children.