Carmen María Gallardo Hernández

"Carmen María Gallardo Hernández"' (born 28 November 1949) is the current Ambassador and Permanent Representative of El Salvador to the United Nations. She is the first woman to be appointed to that position. She also serves as Vice-Chairperson of the UN's newly created Peacebuilding Commission and was formerly the Chairperson of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. She also served as the Chairperson of the United Nations Development Programme for the period January to December 2005.

Ambassador Gallardo Hernández served previously as the Coordinator for International Cooperation for El Salvador's Supreme Court and between 1995 and 1996 she served as the Executive Director of the Salvadoran Foundation for Peace (FUNDAPAZ), an NGO formed after the country's peace accords brought to an end the 12-year civil war in 1992. Ambassador Gallardo has been a champion of the Culture of Peace, organizing among other things the first International Forum on Culture of Peace in San Salvador in 1993.

Previously Ambassador Gallardo Hernández served as Salvadoran Ambassador to France and Portugal (1994) and as El Salvador's permanent delegate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris (1992-1994). She fully supported Dr Federico Mayor, former Director General of UNESCO.

Ambassador Gallardo has received numerous accolades over the years including being named professional of the year by the El Salvador Bar Association in 1997 and a “Doctor Honoris Causa” in international relations from El Salvador’s Technological University in 1998. The Ambassador has a Masters degree in Parliamentary Interpretation from the University of Geneva and a Bachelors degree in Clinical Psychology from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City.

More recently in 2007, Ambassador Gallardo has been invited to become a member of the Core Gourp of the International Task Force on Preventive Diplomacy [http://www.preventivediplomacy.org] . The International Taks Force is a multi-year project composed of two structures:A regionally and institutionally balanced Task Force Core Group of 17 experts known for their engagement in preventive diplomacy/conflict prevention; and a High Level Advisory Board of 6 eminent persons, who will support the work of the Task Force Core Group by lending their advice, public outreach, moral standing, and access to media and decision makers.

Born on 28 November 1949 in San Salvador, Ambassador Gallardo Hernández is married to F. Xavier Hernández, an international executive, and has two children and three grandchildren.

ources

* [http://www.rree.gob.sv/sitio/sitiowebrree.nsf/pages/2B92295FDCD2576785257118007C5DD9 Foreign Ministry of El Salvador]
* [http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/pbc1.doc.htm UN: Inaugural session of Peacebuilding Commission]