Sadako Ogata | |
|---|---|
緒方 貞子 | |
.jpg) Ogata in 1993 | |
| President of theJapan International Cooperation Agency | |
| In office 1 October 2003 – 30 March 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Akihiko Tanaka |
| United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees | |
| In office 3 November 1990 – 31 December 2000 | |
| Preceded by | Thorvald Stoltenberg |
| Succeeded by | Ruud Lubbers |
| President of theUnited Nations International Children's Emergency Fund | |
| In office 1978–1979 | |
| Preceded by | Ferdinand Oyono |
| Succeeded by | Zaki Hasan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 中村 貞子 (Nakamura Sadako) (1927-09-16)16 September 1927 |
| Died | 22 October 2019(2019-10-22) (aged 92) Tokyo, Japan |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Two; includingAtsushi Ogata |
| Alma mater | University of the Sacred Heart Georgetown University University of California, Berkeley |
Sadako Ogata,néeNakamura (緒方 貞子,Ogata Sadako; 16 September 1927 – 22 October 2019), was aJapanese academic,diplomat, author, administrator, and professoremerita at the Roman CatholicSophia University.[1]: 222 She was widely known as the head of the office of theUnited Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) from 1991 to 2000, as well as in her capacities as Chair of theUNICEF Executive Board from 1978 to 1979[2][3] and as President of theJapan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) from 2003 to 2012. She also served as Advisor of the Executive Committee of the JapanModel United Nations (JMUN).[4]
She was born on 16 September 1927[1]: 219 to a career diplomat father Toyoichi Nakamura (who became in 1943 the Japanese ambassador toFinland) and her original name was Sadako Nakamura. Her mother was a daughter ofForeign MinisterKenkichi Yoshizawa and granddaughter ofPrime MinisterInukai Tsuyoshi, who wasassassinated when she was four years old, due to his opposition to Japanese militarism, whose assassination marked the end of civilian control over the Japanese military until afterWorld War II.
She was born in Tokyo, Japan and, due to her father's profession, she lived in the U.S. (she attended theCatlin Gabel School in Portland) from 4 to 8 years old, also lived in China from 8 to 10 during the Japanese occupation when her father was Japanese consul in Guangzhou and Hong Kong before the family went back to Japan.[5]: 2–8 She stayed in Japan during World War II and after the war, she graduated from theUniversity of the Sacred Heart in Tokyo (she majored inEnglish Literature). Though it was not common for aJapanese woman to study abroad at that time, she dared to study atGeorgetown University and itsEdmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, earning amaster's degree inInternational Relations. She wanted to study the reason why Japan entered a reckless aggression war, which was not put a brake on after the assassination of her great-grandfather,Prime MinisterInukai Tsuyoshi.[5]: 34 She was awarded aPhD inPolitical Science from theUniversity of California, Berkeley in 1963, after she completed a dissertation on the politics behind the foundation ofManchukuo. The study analyzed the causes of theJapanese invasion of China. As for her personal life, in 1960 she marriedShijuro Ogata and her name changed from Sadako Nakamura to Sadako Ogata. In 1965, she became Lecturer atInternational Christian University in Tokyo. After 1980, she taught international politics atSophia University in Tokyo[1]: 221 as a professor and later became Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Studies until her departure to join the UNHCR in 1991.
Ogata was appointed to Japan's UN mission in 1968, on the recommendation ofFusae Ichikawa, a female member of theHouse of Councillors of Japan, who was an activist of the women's suffrage in Japan since the 1920s and had a high opinion of Ogata's character & ability. Ogata represented Japan at several sessions of theUN General Assembly in 1970. In addition, she served from 1978 to 1979 as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary for the permanent mission of Japan to the UN, and as Chair of the UNICEF Executive Board.[2][3]
In 1990, she was appointed as head of theUnited Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She was the first woman to be appointed as a head of the UNHCR.[6] She leftSophia University to start her new position at UNHCR. Her presumed term at UNHCR was only three years, which was the remaining term of her predecessor who had left after only one year, but she continued to be assigned. She was re-elected twice (in November 1993 and in September 1998),[7] and served, over a decade, until 2001.[8]
As head of the UNHCR, she implemented effective strategies and helped countless refugees escape from despair, including Kurdish refugees afterthe Gulf War, refugees in theYugoslav Wars, refugees in theRwandan genocide, and Afghan refugees including victims ofCold War.[8] 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).[8] She was a practical leader who deployed military forces in the humanitarian operations, for example at the siege ofSarajevo, the Airlift Operations in cooperation with some European air forces during theBosnian War.[8] During the period, the budget and the staff in UNHCR more than doubled.[9]
Her formidable negotiating skills and petite stature earned her the nickname of "diminutive giant."
After UNHCR leader, in 2001, she became co-chairperson of UN Human Security Commission.
In December 2000, and coinciding with the end of her second term at the High Commission at UNHCR, as well as the 50th anniversary of the agency, Ogata announced the launch ofRET International in Geneva, Switzerland. Ogata’s vision for RET was to bridge a massive gap she had witnessed during her tenure as the head of the UN Refugee Agency, specifically in education for youth.
The organization, whose initials stood forRefugee Education Trust, would be devoted to secondary education for refugees as Ogata saw this as a critical gap in need of a solution. She believed that if adolescents and youth are not given any opportunities, they will become extremely vulnerable to illegal activities, gangs, underage labor, drug trafficking, sexual abuse, sex trafficking, and violence. RET, therefore, would aim to provide them with the skills to confront these threats, develop their resilience to become self-reliant.
At inception, RET worked exclusively in refugee camps using education as a tool. However, as refugee migration patterns changed and new crises emerged, the paradigm shifted in different parts of the world and the organization developed methods specifically for refugee camps, proved to be adaptable to young people in fragile environments in general.
As of 2025, the organization remains headquartered in Geneva operates in 15 countries around the world. It has worked directly with a number of UN agencies over the years, including UNHCR, as well as governments, and private foundations to provide opportunities to vulnerable communities.
In 2001, after theSeptember 11 attacks, she was appointed as Special Representative of Prime Minister of Japan on Reconstruction Assistance toAfghanistan.
TheKoizumi government approached Ogata as a candidate to replaceMakiko 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 toldThe 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."[10]
Next year, going back to Tokyo, theJapanese government appointed her as President of theJapan 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.[5]: 262–264 She led JICA with her emphasis on ideas from fields and Human Security.[5]: 264–272 She built up peace-building projects on Afghanistan and Mindanao.[5]: 272–281 By adding loan assistance, under her leadership JICA became the world-largest bi-laterial aid organization in 2008.[5]: 281–287 She continued to work as president of JICA for more than two terms (over eight years), retiring in April 2012 to be succeeded byAkihiko Tanaka.
She was a member of The Advisory Council on the Imperial House Law on 27 November 2014. The council wasJunichiro Koizumi then-Prime Minister's private advisory organ which belonged to theCabinet Office.[11][12] The council met 17 times from 25 January 2005 to discuss theJapanese succession controversy and theImperial 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.[11][12] Both Ogata andEmpress Michiko'salma mater is theUniversity of the Sacred Heart.
A "Reception for Respecting Mrs. Sadako Ogata's Contributions to Our Country and the International Community" was held byKōichirō Genba,Minister for Foreign Affairs on 17 April 2012, inTokyo.[13] Prime MinisterYoshihiko Noda gave a speech. He said "Because of the2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, theoffers of assistance to Japan from more than 160 countries and more than 40 international organizations were NOT irrelevant to Mrs. Sadako Ogata's achievements".[14]
Ogata was involved in theSergio Vieira de Mello Foundation.[15]
In 1960, she marriedShijuro Ogata (1927–2014), a son ofTaketora Ogata, who was also an official of theBank of Japan[1]: 221 and later became its executive director. After the marriage, she changed her name from Sadako Nakamura to Sadako Ogata. She has one son (Atsushi Ogata, a film director) and one daughter. Ogata died on 22 October 2019 at the age of 92.[26]
| Tsuyoshi Inukai | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Misao | Kenkichi Yoshizawa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tsuneko | Toyoichi Nakamura | Taketora Ogata | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sadako Ogata | Shijūrō Ogata | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Atsushi Ogata | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Diplomatic posts | ||
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| Preceded by | United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 1991–2000 | Succeeded by |
| Grand Collar (Raja) | |
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| Grand Cross (Datu) |
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