THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                          (New York, New York)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                     April 24, 2000

             PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES SHARON P. WILKINSON AS
                     U.S. AMBASSADOR TO MOZAMBIQUE

     The President announced today his intent to nominate Sharon P.

Wilkinson to be U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Mozambique.

Ambassador Sharon P. Wilkinson, of New York, is a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor. Ambassador Wilkinson, who is currently serving as Director of the Office of West African Affairs in the Department of State, began her career as Vice Consul in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She was then assigned as Consul in Accra, Ghana. Returning to Washington, she served as program officer for Africa in the (then) Bureau of Cultural Affairs, staff assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Inter-American Affairs, desk officer for Portugal, and management analyst for the Office of Management Operations. She also spent one year as director of the Face-to-Face Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Next, she was assigned as Deputy Principal Officer in Tijuana, Mexico. She returned to Washington to direct the Office of Diplomatic and Public Liaison in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, and then was assigned as Consul General in Curacao. She participated as a member of the 35th Senior Seminar Class before departing for Lisbon, where she served as Charge d'Affaires before completing her tour as Deputy Chief of Mission. In l995, President Clinton nominated Ms. Wilkinson to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Burkina Faso.

Ambassador Wilkinson was born in Buffalo, New York. She was educated at Brown University and the University of Chicago. She speaks Portuguese, Spanish and French.

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