New Permanent Representative of New Zealand Presents Credentials

The new Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the United Nations, Victoria Hallum, presented her credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

(As provided by the Permanent Mission of New Zealand)

Victoria Hallum is a career diplomat and international lawyer who assumed her role as New Zealand's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in July 2026.

Prior to her appointment, Ms. Hallum was Deputy Secretary for Multilateral and Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2022-2026) with responsibility for United Nations, Commonwealth and Human Rights; Climate, Antarctica and Environment; International Law; Consular Affairs; and Protocol.

Between 2017 and 2022, Ms. Hallum was Chief International Legal Adviser and head of the Ministry's legal division, in which capacity she appeared as counsel for New Zealand in the climate change advisory cases in the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. She also led New Zealand's delegation in the negotiations for the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction treaty.

Ms. Hallum was New Zealand's Permanent Representative to UNESCO and Deputy Head of Mission at the New Zealand Embassy in Paris from 2008-2012, during which she served as Chairperson of the Legal Committee at the thirty-sixth United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) General Conference.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Hallum was posted as legal adviser to the New Zealand Permanent Mission in New York, where she served as Vice-Chair of the Sixth Committee and co-Chair of the annual oceans' resolution.

Ms. Hallum has also been head of legal and international affairs at Maritime NZ, New Zealand's maritime regulatory agency, and has worked as a Barrister and Solicitor in private legal practice.

Ms. Hallum holds a Bachelor of Law and Arts from Canterbury University in Christchurch, a Master of Laws from Victoria University of Wellington and a Master of Laws from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she studied as a Commonwealth Scholar.