José Filipe Mendes Moraes Cabral has been appointed Permanent Representative to the United Nations on 30 October 2008 and has taken up his new position on 1 December 2008.

Prior to his appointment to New York he was Ambassador to Spain (2004-2008).

From 2001 to 2004 he was the Chief of Staff of the President of the Republic Jorge Sampaio with whom he has previously worked, as Diplomatic Adviser, from 1996 to 1999.

From 1999 to 2001 he was Ambassador to Israel.

Between 1994 and 1996 he headed the Office of the Director-General for Political Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Lisbon and was the Portuguese Representative in the Working Group for former Yugoslavia at the EU.

Between 1982 and 1991 he held diplomatic assignments in Ottawa, Rabat, Riyadh (as Chargé d’Affairs en pied) and Brussels (Permanent Mission to the EU).

José Filipe Moraes Cabral joined the Portuguese diplomatic service on 1979.

Before he had assignments at the Presidency of the Republic (in the Office for Cooperation and in the Civil House during the tenure of President António Ramalho Eanes) and at the Office of the Secretary of State for External Cooperation.

José Filipe Moraes Cabral graduated in Political and Diplomatic Science at the University of Brussels.

Ambassador Moraes Cabral was born on 6 December 1950, in Lisbon.

He is married to Lydia Reinhold and they have three grown-up children.