Permanent Representative to the United Nations

A permanent representative to the United Nations (sometimes called a "UN ambassador") is the head of a country's diplomatic mission to the United Nations. Of these, the most high-profile UN permanent representatives are those assigned to headquarters in New York City. However, member states also appoint permanent representatives to the other UN offices in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi. Many countries call their UN permanent representative "UN ambassadors". Although a permanent representative holds the equivalent diplomatic rank of an ambassador (or chief of mission or high commissioner), they are accredited to an international organisation, and not to a head of state (as a nation's ambassador would be) or to a head of government (as a high commissioner would be).