Ambassador of the United States to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture | |
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![]() Seal of the United States Department of State | |
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Nominator | President of the United States |
Inaugural holder | Millicent Fenwick as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary |
Formation | June 13, 1983 |
Website | United States Mission – UN Agencies in Rome |
The United States representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture is the head of the United States Mission to the UN Agencies in Rome and holds the rank of Ambassador to the three United Nations agencies for food and agriculture located in Rome, Italy: the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the World Food Programme. [1] As of April 3,2024 [update] , Jeffrey Prescott serves as the ambassador. [2]
Originally, there had been a U.S. permanent representative to the Food and Agriculture Organization. However, this position had not held ambassador rank, but instead had been part of the Embassy of the United States of America to the Italian Republic and had reported to the United States ambassador to Italy. [3] In 1983, President Ronald Reagan created the United States Mission to the UN Agencies in Rome and split out this role to a separate, ambassador-rank position. [3] (Due to its heritage, the new position has occasionally been known as the United States ambassador to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. [4] ) As with regular ambassadorial posts, nominations are made by the President of the United States and confirmation by the United States Senate is required. [1] [5] As head of the mission, the ambassador oversees staff from the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Agency for International Development. [6]
The U.S. Mission to the UN Agencies in Rome is a part of the "Tri-Mission Community" in Rome, [7] [8] along with the Embassy of the United States of America to the Italian Republic (headed by the United States ambassador to Italy) and the Embassy of the United States to the Holy See (the United States ambassador to the Holy See position was also split out and elevated to ambassador rank at the same time as the UN Agencies one was). [3] The three ambassadors sometimes engage in joint activities. [7]
Ambassadors to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture are typically appointed for three-year terms. [9] The position has attracted some well-known Americans: Millicent Fenwick, the first to hold it at the ambassador rank, was a nationally prominent former member of the U.S. House of Representatives; [3] George McGovern was a former United States Senator and the 1972 Democratic Party presidential nominee; [9] Tony P. Hall was a long-time sitting member of the House who resigned his seat in order to take on the role; [10] and Cindy McCain was a politically active humanitarian who achieved further visibility as the wife and then widow of a senator and presidential nominee. [11] Several of the nominees, especially including McGovern and Hall, had long prior involvements with food, agriculture, and hunger issues. [9] [10]
On the other hand, from 1988 through 1997 the position was held by career Foreign Service Officers. [12] [13] [14] During 2017–18 the position was vacant, one of many unfilled by the new administration. [15] During such times the acting personage is the Chargé d'affaires a.i. , who in this case was Thomas M. Duffy. [16] Then in 2019, a nominee was finally confirmed for the post. [17]
The following is a chronological list of those who have held the position since its elevation in rank, with what are typically their appointment and termination of service dates:
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, fiat panis, translates to "let there be bread". It was founded on 16 October 1945.
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Millicent Vernon Fenwick was an American fashion editor, politician, and diplomat. A four-term Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey, she entered politics late in life and was renowned for her energy and colorful enthusiasm. She was regarded as a moderate and progressive within her party and was outspoken in favor of civil rights and the women's movement.
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The Embassy of the United States of America in Rome is the diplomatic mission of the United States of America to the Italian Republic. The embassy's chancery is situated in the Palazzo Margherita, Via Vittorio Veneto, Rome. The United States also maintains consulates general in Milan, Florence and Naples, and consular agencies in Genoa, Palermo, and Venice. The diplomatic mission comprises several sections and offices, such as the public affairs section and its cultural office. President Biden has yet to choose a new ambassador, so the U.S. is currently represented by Chargé d’Affaires ad interim Shawn P. Crowley.
The current United States Ambassador to the Holy See is Joe Donnelly, who replaced the ad interim Chargé d'Affaires, Patrick Connell, on April 11, 2021. The Holy See is represented by its apostolic nuncio, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who assumed office on April 12, 2016. The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See is located in Rome, in the Villa Domiziana. The Nunciature to the United States is located in Washington, D.C., at 3339 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
The United States Mission to the UN Agencies in Rome serves as a link between the Rome-based international organizations and the U.S. government. Rome is unusual in that there are three U.S. Ambassadors located there; the other U.S. diplomatic missions in Rome are the Embassy of the United States, Rome, and the Embassy of the United States to the Holy See. Together they are referred to as "Tri-Mission Community" in Rome.
Ertharin Cousin is an American lawyer who served as the twelfth executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme from 2012 to 2017. Following the completion of her term, Cousin became Payne Distinguished Professor at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, distinguished fellow at the Center on Food Security and the Environment and the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, accepted an appointment as a distinguished fellow with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and became a trustee on the UK based Power of Nutrition Board of Directors.
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Kip E. Tom served as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, and chief of the United States Mission to the UN Agencies in Rome, from 2019 to 2021.
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