1ST FSM WOMAN CONFIRMED AS 2nd HIGHEST DIPLOMAT

Dec 24, 2008

FSMWAn- Pohnpei FSM: Mrs. Jane J. Chigiyal became the 1st FSM woman to occupy one of the 2nd highest-level posts within the FSM Government when she was confirmed as Deputy Secretary of the FSM Department of Foreign Affairs last week. Mrs. Chigiyal has been with the department for more than 10 years. She started as a Foreign Service Officer (FSO) and worked her way up to becoming the Department's Assistant Secretary for the Division of American and European Affairs until her recent promotion to the prestigious position of Deputy Secretary.

Mrs. Chigiyal is a strong advocate for human rights as well as a long-time adviser for the FSM government and Pohnpei State NGO gender empowerment movements. At her celebratory luncheon hosted by the US Ambassador to the FSM, her Excellency Miriam Hughes, at her official residence in Nanpohnmal on December 10th, 2008, Mrs. Chigiyal confirmed her full commitment to advocating human rights and gender empowerment, and these, she said, "would be part of her new diplomatic portfolio" in her new role as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Mrs. Chigiyal comes from a Pohnpei-Samoa parentage and is from the State of Pohnpei. She is married and has an adopted teenage daughter.

Special Luncheon held in honor of new Deputy Secretary, Ms. Jane Chigiyal

Her Excellency Ambassador Hughes hosted a congratulatory luncheon for newly appointed Deputy Secretary of FSM Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Jane J. Chigiyal, at her residence in Nanpohnmal on Wednesday, December 10, 2008. Mrs. Chigiyal is the first FSM woman to hold the second prestigious position in the FSM Department of Foreign Affairs.