The US Senate has confirmed nomination of Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat as new US ambassador to Bangladesh.
The nomination is confirmed by voice vote on November 19, according to the US Senate.
Bernicat will succeed incumbent Ambassador Dan W Mozena.
About Bangladesh, Bernicat, currently deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Human Resources at the Department of State, said the United States remains concerned about its recent trends in democracy and human rights.
She was previously ambassador to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau from 2008 to 2011.
Bernicat served in the Department of State as office director for India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bhutan in the Bureau of South Asian Affairs from 2006 to 2008.
From 2004 to 2006, she was the senior-level director and career development officer in the Bureau of Human Resources at the State Department.
Ambassador Bernicat also served as deputy chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados from 2001 to 2004, and as deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Lilongwe, Malawi from 1998 to 2001.
She was Principal Officer at the US Consulate in Casablanca, Morocco from 1995 to 1998, deputy political counselor at the US Embassy in New Delhi, India from 1992 to 1995, and desk officer for Nepal and India in the Bureau of Near East and South Asian Affairs from 1988 to 1990.
Earlier in her career, she was special assistant to deputy secretary of State John Whitehead, consular officer in Marseille, France, and Political/consular officer at the US Embassy in Bamako, Mali. Ambassador Bernicat received a BA from Lafayette College and an MS from Georgetown University.
Source: The Daily Star
