Sadako Ogata, née Nakamura (緒方 貞子 Ogata Sadako, 16 September 1927
– 22 October 2019) was a Japanese academic, diplomat, author, administrator,
and professor emeritus at Sophia University. She was widely known as the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) from 1991 to 2000, as well as in
her capacities as Chair of the UNICEF Executive Board from 1978 to 1979 and as President of the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA) from 2003 to 2012. She also served as Advisor of the
Executive Committee of the Japan Model United Nations (JMUN)
Sadako Ogata in 1993
Early and Academic Life
Ogata was born on 16 September 1927 to a
career diplomat father Toyoichi Nakamura, who was the Japanese ambassador to Finland.
Her mother was a daughter of Foreign Minister Kenkichi Yoshizawa and
granddaughter of Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi, who was assassinated when
Sadako was four years old.
She attended the Catlin Gabel School,
class of 1946, and graduated from the University of the Sacred Heart with a bachelor's
degree in English Literature. She then studied at Georgetown University and its
Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, earning a master's
degree in International Relations. It was not common for a Japanese woman
to study abroad at that time. She wanted to study the causes of Japan's defeat
in war in the US. She was awarded a PhD in Political Science from the University
of California, Berkeley in 1963, after she completed a dissertation on the
politics behind the foundation of Manchukuo. The study analyzed the causes of
the Japanese invasion to China. In 1965, she became Lecturer at International
Christian University. After 1980, she taught international politics at Sophia
University as Professor and later became Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Studies
until her departure to join the UNHCR in 1991.
Career
Ogata was appointed to Japan's UN
mission in 1968, on the recommendation of Fusae Ichikawa, a member of the House
of Councillors of Japan and an activist who thought highly of Ogata. She represented
Japan at several sessions of the UN General Assembly in 1970. In addition, she
served from 1978 to 79 as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary for
the permanent mission of Japan to the UN, and as Chair of the UNICEF Executive
Board.
In 1990, she was appointed to the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She left Sophia University, and
started her new position at UNHCR. The presumed term at UNHCR was only three
years, the remaining term of the abruptly left predecessor. After arrival at
the post in 1991, however, her leadership led to a much longer term ending in
2001. She implemented effective strategies and helped countless refugees escape
from despair, including Kurdish refugees after the Gulf War, refugees in the Yugoslav
Wars, refugees in the Rwandan genocide, Afghan refugees including victims of Cold
War. In the face of Kurdish refugees at the border between Turkey and Iraq,
Ogata expanded the mandate of UNHCR to include the protection of internally displaced
persons (IDPs). She was a practical leader who deployed military forces in the
humanitarian operations, for example at the siege of Sarajevo, the Airlift
Operations in cooperation with some European air forces during the Bosnian War.
In 2001, she became co-chairperson of UN
Human Security Commission.
Japanese government
After the September 11 attacks, in 2002,
she was appointed to Special Representative of Prime Minister of Japan on
Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan.
The Koizumi government approached Ogata
as a candidate to replace Makiko Tanaka as Japanese foreign minister in early
2002, but Ogata refused to accept the position. Although Ogata did not publicly
explain her refusal, Kuniko Inoguchi told The New York Times that Ogata
"would hate to be used as a token or a figurehead because she has fought
all her life for the condition of women, and she wouldn't help someone who
would try to use her for their political purposes."
Next year, going back to Tokyo, the Japanese
government appointed her as President of the Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA) on 1 October 2003. It was reported that young JICA officials
expressed their strong desire for her leadership, even before the formal
appointment. She continued to work as president of JICA for more than two terms
(over eight years), retiring in April 2012 to be succeeded by Akihiko Tanaka.
She was a member of The Advisory Council
on the Imperial House Law on 27 November 2014. The council was Junichiro
Koizumi then-Prime Minister's private advisory organ which belonged to the Cabinet
Office. The council met 17 times from 25 January 2005 to discuss the Japanese
succession controversy and the Imperial Household Act. On 24 November 2005, The
Advisory Council's recommendation included female members' right to the throne
including the right to be extended to the female lineage, and extension of the
primogeniture to female members of the imperial household. Both Ogata and Empress
Michiko's alma mater is the University of the Sacred Heart.
A "Reception for Respecting Mrs.
Sadako Ogata's Contributions to Our Country and the International
Community" was held by Kōichirō Genba, Minister for Foreign Affairs on 17
April 2012, in Tokyo. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda gave a speech. He said
"Because of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the offers of
assistance to Japan from more than 160 countries and more than 40 international
organizations were NOT irrelevant to Mrs. Sadako Ogata's achievements".
Ogata is involved in the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation.
Death
Ogata died on 22 October 2019 at the age
of 92.
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