Born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and Spanish by origin, I would like to thank my parents for the beautiful childhood and open-to-the-world upbringing which is proving to be of immense value, especially since I joined the Agency in September 1992.

When I was 17 we moved from São Paulo to Barcelona where I graduated from high school and completed my studies as translator at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

My first contact with Vienna was in 1983 during a six-month studying period at the Goethe Institute, after which I returned to Barcelona where I started my professional life. Eight years had passed and I was once again ready for a big change and challenge, life is more interesting if you are able to guide your destiny. So here I came with a six-week contract working for the Spanish Section, Department of Languages. Since then I have been through a continuous and very dynamic learning process which I hope will never end. This is in my opinion one of the most interesting aspects in working for an international organization apart from inter-acting with people from different nationalities. I have never exercised my real profession in the house so far but I believe that my studies and background reflects my sense of accuracy and responsibility, two essential factors since security is one of the most important aspects of my present job.

I joined the Department of Safeguards in 1993, moved to the Department of Technical Co-operation and was called back to Safeguards two years later. Although the rules and procedures are the same in the whole house, working for different Departments helped me to have a much better understanding of our duties as international civil servants and the dimension of the Agency’s mission, namely the peaceful use of nuclear energy and non-proliferation. In this context, I am glad to work in the very Section where the evaluation of the inspections conducted throughout the year as well as the effectiveness of our Department are analyzed and presented to the Board of Governors for consideration and approval. It is gratifying to see that all the effort in producing a concise and well presented result will serve the objectives of the Agency and, therefore, the Member States.