HHS Assistant Secretary for Aging Carbonell Represents the U.S. Government at the 14th Conference of First Ladies, Spouses and Representatives of Heads of State and Government of the Americas

	November 20, 2007 - HHS Assistant Secretary for Aging Josefina Carbonell at the Second Working Session of the 14th Conference of First Ladies, Spouses and Representatives of Heads of State and Government of the Americas in El Salvador.
	November 20, 2007 - HHS Assistant Secretary for Aging Josefina Carbonell (right) and Stacie Maass, Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy (left) at the Second Working Session of the 14th Conference of First Ladies, Spouses and Representatives of Heads of State and Government of the Americas in El Salvador.
	November 20, 2007 - Participants in the 14th Conference of First Ladies, Spouses and Representatives of Heads of State and Government of the Americas in El Salvador. First row, left to right: Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, First Lady of the Republic of Honduras; Lina María Moreno de Uribe, First Lady of the Republic of Colombia; Ana Ligia Mixto Sol de Saca, First Lady of the Republic of El Salvador; Wendy W. de Berger, First Lady of the Republic of Guatemala; and The Honorable Margarita Zavala Gómez de Calderón, First Lady of México. Second row, left to right: The Honorable Josefina Carbonell, Assistant Secretary for Aging in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Mariângela Rebuá de Andrade Simões, Head of the Division of Social Issues at the Ministry of Foreign Relations of the Federative Republic of Brazil; María Angela Ortiz Soto, First Lady of the Republic of Costa Rica; The Honorable Stephanie Alvargómez, Canadian Ambassador to El Salvador; The Honorable Cecilia Viviana Salas de Chuquihuara, Vice President of the Peruvian Congress.

November 19, 2007 - The Honorable Josefina Carbonell, Assistant Secretary for Aging at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is representing the United States and First Lady Laura Bush at the 14th Conference of First Ladies, Spouses and Representatives of Heads of State and Government of the Americas, which is taking place this week in San Salvador, the capital of the Republic of El Salvador.

Hosted by the First Lady of El Salvador, Ana Ligia de Saca, the conference will last from November 19-21, 2007, under the theme of "Building a Society for all Ages," and will emphasize care for older persons and promoting their full inclusion and participation in society. Expected to attend are First Ladies and high-level representatives from countries around the Western Hemisphere, including Canada, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Paraguay, Panamá, Perú, the Dominican Republic, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

President George W. Bush’s appointment of Ms. Carbonell as the HHS Assistant Secretary for Aging followed her 30 years of community service in Florida. Ms. Carbonell led one of the largest Hispanic, community-based, long-term-care organizations in the nation, which provides health, nutrition, transportation, adult-day and personal care through local partnerships, by working with volunteers and inter-generational programs. At the present time, Josefina Carbonell is the longest-serving Assistant Secretary for Aging.

Last revised: November 23, 2007