The Department of State is pleased to announce the U.S. Delegation attending the 56^th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, to be held from February 27 through March 9, 2012 at UN Headquarters in New York.

• Ambassador Susan Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Co-Head of Delegation
• Ambassador Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues and Representative of the United States to the UN Commission on the Status of Women, U.S. Department of State, Co-Head of Delegation

They will be accompanied by seven Public Delegates.

• Catherine Bertini, Professor, Public Administration and International Affairs, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University
• Christy Turlington Burns, Founder, Every Mother Counts
• John Coonrod, Executive Vice President, The Hunger Project
• Helene D. Gayle, MD, MPH, President and CEO, CARE
• Jill Iscol, Ed.D, President, IF Hummingbird Foundation
• Melinda Newport, Director of Nutrition Services, Division of Health, Chickasaw Nation
• Randi Ilyse Roth, Executive Director, Otto Bremer Foundation

Other members of the U.S. Delegation include technical experts from the Department of State, the United States Mission to the United Nations, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Department of Agriculture, as well as a senior official from the White House.

The theme of this year’s session is the empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges.

For more information, please visit: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/56sess.htm