Sadako Ogata
Sadako Ogata | |
---|---|
緒方 貞子 | |
Sadako Ogata in 1993 | |
President of the Japan 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 the United 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) 16 September 1927 Azabu, Tokyo City, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan (present day Minato, Tokyo, Japan) |
Died | 22 October 2019 Tokyo, Japan | (aged 92)
Spouse | |
Children | Two; including Atsushi Ogata |
Alma mater | University of the Sacred Heart Georgetown University University of California, Berkeley |
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 emerita at the Roman Catholic Sophia University.[1]: 222 She was widely known as the head of the office of 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[2][3] 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).[4]
Early and academic life
[edit]She was born on 16 September 1927[1]: 219 to a career diplomat father Toyoichi Nakamura (who became in 1943 the Japanese ambassador to Finland) and her original name was Sadako Nakamura. Her mother was a daughter of Foreign Minister Kenkichi Yoshizawa and granddaughter of Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi, who was assassinated 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 after World War II.
She was born in Tokyo, Japan and, due to her father's profession, she lived in the U.S. (she attended the Catlin 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 the University of the Sacred Heart in Tokyo with a bachelor's degree in English Literature. Though it was not common for a Japanese woman to study abroad at that time, she dared to study at Georgetown University and its Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, earning a master's degree in International 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 Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi.[5]: 34 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 of China. As for her personal life, in 1960 she married Shijuro Ogata and her name changed from Sadako Nakamura to Sadako Ogata. In 1965, she became Lecturer at International Christian University in Tokyo. After 1980, she taught international politics at Sophia 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.
Career
[edit]United Nations / United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
[edit]Ogata was appointed to Japan's UN mission in 1968, on the recommendation of Fusae Ichikawa, a female member of the House 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 the UN 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 the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She was the first woman to be appointed as a head of the UNHCR.[6] She left Sophia 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 after the Gulf War, refugees in the Yugoslav Wars, refugees in the Rwandan genocide, and Afghan refugees including victims of Cold 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 of Sarajevo, the Airlift Operations in cooperation with some European air forces during the Bosnian 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.
Japanese government / JICA President
[edit]In 2001, after the September 11 attacks, she was appointed as 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."[10]
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.[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 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.[11][12] 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.[11][12] 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.[13] 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".[14]
Ogata was involved in the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation.[15]
Honors
[edit]Japanese decorations
[edit]Other
[edit]- 1993 Journalistic prize Golden Doves for Peace issued by the Italian Research Institute Archivio Disarmo[18]
- 1994 Prize For Freedom by the Liberal International
- 1995 Liberty Medal
- 1995 Member of the American Philosophical Society[19]
- 1997 Ramon Magsaysay Award
- 2000 Seoul Peace Prize
- 2001 Order of Friendship of Russia
- 2001 Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Commander Crosse
- 2001 Commander of the Légion d'honneur
- 2001 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
- 2001 Commander First Class of the Order of the Polar Star of Sweden
- 2001 Indira Gandhi Prizehttps://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/featured/filipino-recipients-of-japanese-decorations-and-japanese-recipients-of-philippine-decorations/
- 2002 Fulbright Prize for International Understanding
- 2002 Honorary Doctor of Human Letters from Brown University.[20]
- 2005 World Citizenship Award
- 2006 Grand Officer (Maringal na Pinuno) of the Order of Lakandula of the Philippines[21]
- 2008 Grand Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau of the Netherlands
- 2011 Honorary Dame Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (DCMG)
- 2011 Medal of the Friendship of Nations (Danaker Medal) of Kyrgyzstan
- 2013 Band of the Order of the Aztec Eagle of Mexico[22]
- 2013 Grand Cross of the Order of Sikatuna, Rank of Datu[21]
- 2017 Humanitarian Medal Mother Teresa of Kosovo[23]
Quotes
[edit]- "If we ignore the plight of the refugees or the burden of the countries which have received them, I fear we will pay a heavy toll in renewed violence. Conditions must be created urgently to allow the refugees to go back and live in peace and tolerance in their own country." — Liberty Medal acceptance speech, 4 July 1995[24]
Personal life
[edit]In 1960, she married Shijuro Ogata (1927–2014), a son of Taketora Ogata, who was also an official of the Bank 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.[25]
Family tree
[edit]Tsuyoshi Inukai | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Misao | Kenkichi Yoshizawa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tsuneko | Toyoichi Nakamura | Taketora Ogata | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sadako Ogata | Shijūrō Ogata | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Atsushi Ogata | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c d Wessels, David (1996). "Sadako Ogata". In Volcansek, Mary L.; Solakor, Rebecca M. (eds.). Women in Law: A Bio-bibliographical Sourcebook.
- ^ a b "Officers of the UNICEF Executive Board 1946–2016" (PDF). Retrieved 20 August 2016.
- ^ a b "Sadako Ogata (Japan): 1991-2000". United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- ^ "MUN in Japan - 27th All Japan Model United Nations". All Japan Model United Nations (AJMUN). Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f Kikigaki Ogata Sadako Kaikoroku (Oral History Sadako Ogata). Iwanami Shoten Publishing Company. 2015.
- ^ Green, Andrew (November 2019). "Sadako Ogata". The Lancet. 394 (10213): 1986. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32793-X.
- ^ "Records of the Office of the High Commissioner" (PDF). UNHCR. 2005. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 March 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
- ^ a b c d Ogata, Sadako N. (2005). The Turbulent Decade: Confronting the Refugee Crises of the 1990s. W.W. Norton & Company.
- ^ "Sadako Ogata (Japan): 1991-2000". UN Refugee Agency. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
- ^ French, Howard W. (2 February 2002). "After Firing, The Fallout: Japan's Chief Stumbles". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
- ^ a b "皇室典範に関する有識者会議 - 首相官邸". Cabinet Secretariat of Japan. 24 November 2005. Archived from the original on 7 February 2005. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- ^ a b "The Advisory Council on the Imperial House Law Report - The Advisory Council on the Imperial House Law 24th November,2005" (PDF). Cabinet Secretariat of Japan. 24 November 2005. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
- ^ "外務省: 緒方貞子氏の我が国及び国際社会への貢献に敬意を表すレセプション(実施概要)" (in Japanese). Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. 17 April 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- ^ "緒方貞子氏の我が国及び国際社会への貢献に敬意を表すレセプション - YouTube" (in Japanese). Prime Minister's Office of Japan Official Channel - YouTube. 19 April 2012. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
- ^ "Structure of the Foundation". Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
- ^ "Cultural Highlights; From the Japanese Press (1 August – 31 October 2001)" (PDF). Vol. 29, no. 2. Japan Foundation Newsletter. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2011.
- ^ Ogata, S (2004). "Sadako Ogata receives Japan's Order of Culture". Int Nurs Rev. 51 (1): 12. PMID 15022694.
- ^ "List" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
- ^ "APS Member History". American Philosophical Society Member History. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
- ^ "Honorary Degrees". Corporation | Brown University. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
- ^ a b "Filipino recipients of Japanese decorations and Japanese recipients of Philippine decorations". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines.
- ^ "Orden Mexicana del Águila Azteca a ciudadanos Japoneses" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 13 April 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "EVIDENCA PËR DEKORATAT E DHËNA NGA PRESIDENTI HASHIM THAÇI" (PDF) (in Albanian). REPUBLIC OF KOSOVO – OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
- ^ "Sadako Ogata Acceptance Speech". Liberty Medal. 4 July 1995. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
- ^ "Japan's Sadako Ogata, ex-U.N. high commissioner for refugees, dies at 92". Kyodo News. 29 October 2019.
External links
[edit]- United Nations, bio notes
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- 1927 births
- 2019 deaths
- People from Minato
- People from Tokyo
- University of California, Berkeley alumni
- Georgetown University Law Center alumni
- Academic staff of Sophia University
- Japanese Roman Catholics
- Japanese political scientists
- Japanese women academics
- Japanese women diplomats
- Japanese diplomats
- Permanent Representatives of Japan to the United Nations
- United Nations High Commissioners for Refugees
- Under-Secretaries-General of the United Nations
- Ramon Magsaysay Award winners
- Recipients of the Order of Culture
- Honorary Dames Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Commanders of the Legion of Honour
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
- Commanders First Class of the Order of the Polar Star
- Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau
- Order of the Quetzal
- Recipients of the Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo
- Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni
- Japan International Cooperation Agency
- Catlin Gabel School alumni
- University of the Sacred Heart (Japan) alumni
- Japanese officials of the United Nations
- Chairmen and Presidents of UNICEF
- Women political scientists
- Japan–Kosovo relations
- Japanese women ambassadors
- Members of the American Philosophical Society
- Recipients of the Order of Lakandula