Assistant Secretary for Conflict and Stabilization Operations Rick Barton Visits Honduras

June 25, 2012

TEGUCIGALPA - Assistant Secretary for Conflict and Stabilization Operations Rick Barton arrived in Honduras June 25 for a two day visit to meet with civil society representatives, business leaders, and Honduran government officials, to explore additional ways the U.S. can work with the people of Honduras to reduce violence and improve local capacity.

Barton spoke with key groups including women and youth leaders as well as the Alliance for Peace and Justice.  He also discussed progress in existing partnerships with organizations such as Counterpart, Creative Associates, and Partners of the Americas.  Through these partnerships— developed under the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI)— the U.S. is assisting Honduras in strengthening justice sector institutions, protecting human rights, improving economic and social opportunities, and reducing the influence of organized crime.

Assistant Secretary Barton is visiting Honduras as part of a regional tour.  He departs June 26 to continue his trip in Guatemala and El Salvador.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations aims to address the underlying causes of destabilizing violence in countries around the world.

Biography of Assistant Secretary for Conflict and Stabilization Operations Rick Barton

Ambassador Rick Barton of Maine is the Assistant Secretary of State for Conflict and Stabilization Operations and the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization.  Prior to this position, Mr. Barton served as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State on Conflict and Stabilization.

From 2009-2011 Ambassador Barton served in New York as the U.S. Representative to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC), working on development, peacebuilding, climate change, and human rights.  During that time, Mr. Barton was actively engaged in the creation of UN Women, the advancement of the UN Peacebuilding Commission, the Millennium Development Goals summit, the suspension of Libya’s voting rights on the UN Human Rights Commission, Haiti’s post-earthquake reconstruction, Democracy Fund initiatives, and efforts to better align U.S. and UN development country programs.

The leadership positions he held include Co-Director of the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Deputy High Commissioner of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Geneva, Switzerland, and founding director of the United States Agency for International Development’s Office of Transition Initiatives.  Mr. Barton taught for five years at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School, where he was the Frederick Schultz Professor.

Ambassador Barton graduated from Harvard College, earned his Masters in Business Administration from Boston University, and was honored with a Doctorate by Wheaton College of Massachusetts.  As the children of American diplomats, Mr. Barton and his brothers lived in Argentina, Spain, the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, and Mexico.  Married since 1975, Mr. Barton and Kit Lunney have an adult daughter, Kacy, and live in Washington, DC.