On Monday 29th April 2019, H.E. Christopher Grima
presented his credentials as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Malta to
the United Nations Office and other International Organisations in Geneva
to Mr Michael
Møller, Director-General of the United Nations Office in Geneva
The Director-General welcomed Ambassador Grima and augured
well for his new assignment in Geneva. Mr Møller highlighted the work of the
United Nations Office and its relevance to the international community, as well
as the importance of Geneva to multilateral diplomacy. He augured for
Malta’s continued support to push forward the debate on several important
themes for the international community.
Ambassador Grima conveyed the appreciation of
the Government of Malta for the important work carried out by the United
Nations Office in Geneva and thanked the Director-General for his leadership
over the past several years. Ambassador Grima underlined that he intends to
strengthen Malta’s relations with the United Nations Office and its Agencies
based in Geneva and assured the Director-General of Malta’s full cooperation
and support, including the shared objective to preserve and reinforce our
rules-based international order. Ambassador Grima and Director-General Møller discussed
the continued importance of multilateralism to resolve many of the world’s
global challenges and for the maintenance of international peace and security.
Ambassador Grima recalled that, over the years, Malta has demonstrated its
commitment to multilateralism and has taken important initiatives to place
global issues, such as on Climate Change and on the Law of the Sea, at the
centre of the international agenda.
A career diplomat, Ambassador Grima has over thirty
years of experience in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion of
the Republic of Malta, serving in different capacities, both at Head Office and
overseas, including as Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New
York and as Malta’s Ambassador to Austria and to the International Organisation
and Agencies based in Vienna. Previously, he also served at the Permanent
Representation of Malta to the European Union in Brussels and at the Malta High
Commission in London. Before moving to Geneva, Ambassador Grima was working in
the Office of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and
Trade Promotion. Ambassador Grima is married to Mateja and has two children.
