Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, US ambassador
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The US Senate has approved two more nominations by President Barack Obama for ambassador posts in Geneva: Laura Kennedy as Ambassador and Representative to the Conference on Disarmament, and of Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe as the United States Representative to the UN Human Rights Council, with the rank of Ambassador. Betty E King, who heads the US Mission in Geneva, was approved in February by the Senate and presented her credentials to the UN 3 March.
Michael Punke’s nomination as Ambassador to the World Trade Organziation is still pending.
Ed. note: photo of Laura Kennedy not yet available, but we will add it once it is.
Background on Kennedy and Chamberlain Donahoe nominations, GenevaLunch
Link to US Mission, Geneva with biographies of both new ambassadors
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Women human rights leaders are meeting in Geneva 8-10 December for the first Courage to Lead summit. The meeting brings together emerging women leaders and those with experience in human rights advocacy around the world. The US Mission to the UN says the meeting is designed to encourage exchanges, mentoring and collaboration among the women.
The summit is organized by George Washington University’s Eleanor Roosevelt Project and the Vital Voices Global Partnership, and sponsored by the US State Department, the International Labour Organization, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Allison Wilbur, quilter, Douglas Griffiths of the US Mission in Geneva and Barbara Lee, US House of Representatives, at exhibit opening 12 November
Dawn Maria Piasta from Canada with her quilt, Geneva Quilt Challenge at the UN
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A warming exhibit, in every sense, has opened at the UN Palais building in Geneva, with a display of American quilts made specially to promote the work of Geneva-based Global Fund for Malaria, Aids and Tuberculosis. The show, “Making a healthier world for our children”, is organized by Geneva’s US Mission to coincide with the annual United Nations Women’s Guild fundraising bazaar, which pulls in thousands of visitors.
Mark Platt, Multistack, left and Michael Christensen, US State Dept, right (click on images to view larger)
Updated 16:30 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Wednesday was the 39th annual Earth Day in the US, which explains much of the flurry of talks, blogs and activities designed to get us thinking along greener, cleaner lines. The Huffington Post carried blogs by filmmaker Robert Redford on taking a stand, and author Michael Pollen, who praises the new vegetable garden at the White House, the first since Eleanor Roosevelt.
Meanwhile, here in Geneva, the US Mission to the United Nations put into operation a piece of new technology that will contribute significantly to Geneva’s reputation as a green city and to the United States government’s efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of its embassies and missions. The State Department sees Geneva as an ideal place to spotlight emerging green technologies because of its reputation as an environmental centre, US staff say, but also because during the past four years the Mission has developed excellent working relations with the canton’s energy department and Geneva’s SIG (industrial services) department. “They’re very forward thinking,” says Michael Christensen, a green engineer from the US State Department, who praises SIG’s efforts “to do everything they can to prevent fossil fuel use.”
Hillary Clinton met with international diplomats in Washington to discuss “Greening Diplomacy” where she mentioned the US Geneva’s Mission and its new air conditioning system.
Geneva’s US Mission goes for maglev air conditioners
The Mission’s new air conditioning system gives the US an opportunity to showcase cutting edge technology, an air cooling chiller system that uses no lubrication oil and a minimal amount of refrigerant in comparison to typical chilling systems. It is a long-awaited commercial application of a solution to a decades-old engineering dilemma of how to maintain a magnetic levitation motor shaft within microscopic tolerances. Magnetic levitation dates back to the 1940s, but nanotechnology was required for this step.
Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be in Geneva at the end of next week, part of a seven-day swing through Israel, Egypt, the Palestinian Territories, Belgium, Switzerland, and Turkey 1-7 March 2009.
