Social Dialogue Sector (ED/DIALOGUE)

Mr George Dragnich (United States) was appointed Executive Director of the Social Dialogue Sector (DIALOGUE) at the Assistant Director-General level, with effect from 1 January 2009.

Mr Dragnich came to the ILO following a 33-year diplomatic career in which he was latterly the highest-ranking labour officer in the US Foreign Service. Seven overseas postings included assignments as Regional Labour Attaché in Nairobi; Labour Attaché in Canberra and Minister-Counsellor for Labour and Social Affairs in London. He also served as consul in Oran, Algeria; Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Lilongwe, Malawi; and Political Chief at the US Embassy in Lusaka, Zambia. His first experience with the UN was as a peacekeeper in the Sinai Desert in the late 1970s.

Most recently, Mr Dragnich headed the Office of Economic and Development Affairs in the Department of State, dealing with the UN development agencies, UN regional economic commissions, ECOSOC, the General Assembly’s 2nd Committee (economics and development), the UN Global Compact, and the International Law Development Organization.

Previously, he was the State Department’s lead negotiator for bilateral science and technology agreements, served as his Government’s delegate to the OECD’s science and technology committee, and instigated his Government’s return to the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development. He also headed a telecommunications policy office, during which time he worked with the ITU on Iraq’s telecom reconstruction, and helped lay the groundwork for a telecom regulatory authority for a future Palestinian State.

In other labour-related work, during the middle of his diplomatic career, Mr Dragnich spent a sabbatical year with the National Alliance of Business, devoted to educational and training reform issues concerning workforce employment and employability.

A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Mr Dragnich holds a Bachelor of Arts in European History from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, and a Masters of Arts in Middle East Studies from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He also studied at the American University in Beirut. Professional training included an intensive labour studies programme organized by Georgetown University for the US Government.