H.E. Mr. Ahmed Sareer, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Maldives to the United Nations

His Excellency Mr. Ahmed Sareer presented his Letters of Credence to His Excellency Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, as Ambassador / Permanent Representative of the Republic of Maldives to the United Nations on 20 December 2012.
Mr. Sareer is also concurrently serving as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Maldives to the United States of America having presented his Letters of Credence to His Excellency President Barack Obama on 14
January 2013.
From December 2009 until his appointment as Ambassador / Chargé d'Affaires to the Permanent Mission of Maldives to the United Nations in February 2012, Mr. Sareer served as the High Commissioner of Maldives to the People's Republic of
Bangladesh. He was Deputy High Commissioner in London, United Kingdom from June 2008 to May 2009, and served as the Charge d'Affaires, Maldives Mission to the European Union, Brussels from March to June 2008. He was the Counsellor and later
the Deputy High Commissioner in Colombo, Sri Lanka from July 2006 to March 2008.
As a career foreign service officer, he began his service at the Ministry Foreign Affairs in February 1986 and held various positions including Director General, Foreign Relations Department.
Mr. Sareer was Director representing the Maldives at the Secretariat of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Kathmandu from June 2000 to May 2003.
Mr. Sareer served as the Second Secretary/ Charge d'Affaires at the Permanent Mission of Maldives to the United Nations, New York from September 1992 to December 1993. He also served as Third Secretary at the High Commission of Maldives in
Colombo, Sri Lanka from April 1988 to February 1989.
He was a representative of the Maldives Delegation to the 47th (1992), 48th (1993), 52nd (1997), 63rd (2007), 66th (2011), 67th (2012), 68th (2013), 69th (2014) and 70th (2015) Session of the United Nations General Assembly, New York.
Since January 2015, the Maldives has assumed Chairmanship of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), a coalition of 44 small island and coastal nations from around the world, and Mr. Sareer has been leading the process on behalf of the
Government of Maldives.
Since January 2016, Mr. Sareer has been serving as Co-Chair of the Steering Committee on Partnerships for Small Island Developing States on behalf of the President of the United Nations General Assembly, constituted by the latter under UNGA
resolution 70/202.
After completing his secondary education in the Maldives, Mr. Sareer has undertaken further studies in Australia, where he attained a bachelor's degree in Social Sciences from the University of Canberra and a master's degree in Foreign Affairs
and Trade from Monash University. He also attended a Foreign Service Training Programme conducted by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia.
Born in Malé, Maldives on 28 August 1965, he is married and has four children.
H.E. Mr. Sebastiano Cardi, Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations

Sebastiano Cardi was appointed as Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations in New York on 19 July 2013, and is currently one of the Vice-Presidents of the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. He also was the
Chairman of the Second Committee at the 69th session of the General Assembly.
A career diplomat with over thirty years of experience both at home and abroad, he arrived in New York after serving as Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Rome (September 2010 to September 2013).
Prior to this, his post was at the Italian Embassy in Washington as Deputy Chief of Mission (May 2007 – September 2010). In August 2006 he was appointed Special Envoy of the Foreign Minister for the Reform of the United Nations Security
Council.
Promoted to the rank of Minister Plenipotentiary in 2004, Cardi served at the General Directorate for Multilateral Political Affairs and Human Rights at the Foreign Ministry in Rome. In November 2001 he became Diplomatic Adviser to the
President of the Italian Senate. After his promotion to the rank of First Counsellor, in 2000 he was appointed Deputy Head of the Press and Information Department of the Foreign Ministry.
From July 1994 to December 1998 Mr. Cardi was Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations in New York, where he served as a political officer and Mission spokesperson. He was a member of the Italian delegation to the UN
Security Council during Italy’s two-year term as a non-permanent member (1995-96).
In January 1991 he was appointed to the General Secretariat of the Ministry in Rome. Previously he served as Deputy Consul at the Consulate General of Italy in Paris (1987-1991). In October 1984 he was appointed First Secretary (Economic and
Commercial) at the Embassy of Italy in Beijing.
Mr. Cardi attended an advanced training course at the Diplomatic Institute (December 1992 to December 1993), where he had also done his first training (October 1982 to April 1983) as an appointee to the Department for Development Cooperation.
Mr. Cardi joined the Foreign Service in 1981, and took a leave of absence in 1981-1982 to fulfil military service obligations.
While in the military, he held the rank of Second-Lieutenant, Cavalry (1981). He was awarded the decoration of Commander of the Order of Merit of the Republic in 2008.
Born in Rome on 15 November 1956, Sebastiano Cardi received his degree in Political Science from the University of Rome on 11 July 1980.