Maria Nazareth Farani Azevêdo

Ambassador Maria Nazareth Farani Azevêdo has been the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva since February 2017. Prior to her appointment, Ambassador Farani Azevêdo had been serving as Consul General of Brazil in Geneva since October 2013. From September 2008 to September 2013, she was the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations Office in Geneva. During that period, she chaired the ILO’s Governing Body and was elected facilitator of the United Nations Human Right Council’s review. She also chaired the Drafting Committee of the 31st International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. Between 2003 and 2008, Ambassador Farani Azevêdo was Chief of Staff to Brazil’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. During the period 2004–2005, she was also Chief Negotiator for the “Action Against Hunger and Poverty” international initiative. In that position, she chaired several meetings between Brazil, Chile, France, Germany and Spain on innovative sources of financing, which ultimately led to the creation of UNITAID. Ambassador Farani Azevêdo is a career diplomat. She graduated from the Brazilian diplomatic academy, Instituto Rio Branco, in 1982 and started her career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, working on trade information and promotion. In 1988, she was posted to the Brazilian Embassy in Washington, and in 1991 she was posted to the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the Latin American Integration Association in Montevideo, working on trade and economic issues during both assignments. She also served at the Permanent Mission of Brazil in Geneva from 1997 to 2001, during which period she represented the country before WTO’s Agriculture Committee, Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, and Committee on Trade and Environment.