Samuelu Laloniu (born 14 May 1969) is a career diplomat from

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-nor ...

. He took up his post as the

Permanent Representative to the United Nations A permanent representative to the United Nations (sometimes called a "UN ambassador")"History of Ambassadors", United States Mission to the United Nations, March 2011, webpagUSUN-a. is the head of a country's diplomatic mission to the United Nat ...

on 21 July 2017. He also presented his credentials as Tuvalu's

ambassador to the United States The following table lists ambassadors to the United States, sorted by the representative country or organization. See also *Ambassadors of the United States Notes {{reflist, 30em External linksCurrent and former Ambassadors to the United Sta ...

on 21 July 2017. He vacated his offices on 19 Jnuary 2023. Laloniu was most recently the Tuvaluan High Commissioner to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

since 2015, having previously served as

Consul General A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

in Auckland, in New Zealand between 2010 and 2014. For six months between 2009 and 2010, he served as Tuvalu's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, and as Deputy High Commissioner to Fiji from 2006 to 2009. Laloniu's other government positions included Assistant Secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Transport between 2000 and 2004, and Private Secretary to the

Prime Minister of Tuvalu The prime minister of Tuvalu is the head of government of Tuvalu. According to Tuvalu's constitution, the prime minister must always be a member of the parliament, and is elected by parliament in a secret ballot. Because there are no political ...

from 1998 to 2000. In 1997, he served as a Pacific Regional Project Associate with the

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

in the Fiji office, prior to which he was a Fisheries Research and Development Officer at the Ministry of Natural Resources from 1994 to 1996. He is a graduate of the University of Otago in New Zealand, and then earned a Master of Arts degree in public policy from Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand.

Published works

* Laloniu, Samuelu, chapters on “Land” and “Singing and Dancing” published in ''Tuvalu: A History'' (1983) Larcy, Hugh (eds.), Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific and Government of Tuvalu

References

Tuvaluan diplomats Permanent Representatives of Tuvalu to the United Nations University of Otago alumni Victoria University of Wellington alumni 1969 births Living people Ambassadors of Tuvalu to the United States {{Diplomat-stub