Izumi Nakamitsu


Izumi Nakamitsu was appointed United Nations Under-Secretary-General of Disarmament Affairs on 29 March 2017 by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. She succeeded Kim Won-soo of the Republic of Korea. Prior to this, she served as the Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator, and Crisis Response Unit leader of the United Nations Development Programme.
Mrs. Nakamitsu began her career with the United Nations in 2008, and during that time has held several high-level positions with the Organization. From 2016 to 2017, she was the Special Adviser Ad Interim on Follow-up to the Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants. Previous to this, she held the position of Director in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

Education

Nakamitsu was educated at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan and holds a Master of Science in Foreign Service and a Bachelor of Laws.

Career

Nakamitsu, a Japanese National, has had a distinguished career and has held positions both within and outside the United Nations.
In addition to her role as Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also appointed her as Special Adviser ad interim on Follow-up to the Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants in 2016; in this capacity, Nakamitsu succeeded Karen AbuZayd.
In March 2017, Nakamitsu was appointed as the next Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Office for Disarmament Affairs.