H.E. Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, MM, was elected President of the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly on June 4, 2008. A veteran statesman, politician, community leader and a priest, Father d’Escoto served for over a decade as the Republic of Nicaragua’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, and is currently Senior Advisor on Foreign Affairs, with the rank of Minister, to President Dan¬iel Ortega Saavedra. He has traveled extensively, visiting most of the world’s capitals, as well as many remote areas of the globe, and has dedicated much of his life to helping the poor. Father d’Escoto, the recipient of numerous international awards, is an advocate of multilateralism and respect for inter¬national law, and is deeply committed to the principles of active non-violence, solidarity and social justice, which together with a deep sense of ethics, have formed the basis of his political life.

Born in Los Angeles, California, in 1933, Father Miguel spent his childhood years in Nicaragua, but returned to the United States where he attended St. Mary’s College High School in Berkeley, Califor¬nia, St. Mary’s College in California, and Manhattan College in New York. He obtained a Masters of Science from Columbia University’s School of Journalism (Pulitzer Institute) in 1962. He entered the Maryknoll order in 1953 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1961.