First Japanese woman to lead the UN, Sadako Ogata passes away at 92

The first Japanese to lead the United Nations refugee agency for nearly a decade, Sadako Ogata, passed away at the age of 92 on October 29. Ogata last served at the government-funded organisation, Japan International Cooperation Agency also said she had died on October 22 however, the cause was not yet disclosed. The UN Human Rights Council recalled the 'multilateral diplomat' and the 'tireless advocate' Ogata was for international solidarity with refugees in order to ensure that the resolution of displacement crises was a part of political agreements. 

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Ogata's career

Born on September 16, 1927, Ogata belonged to a family of politicians with great-grandfather being the former Prime Minister Tsuyoshi Inukai who was assassinated by navy officers in 1932 while stopping Japan's military forces in China. Even though even Ogata's grandfather was former minister Kenkichi Yoshizawa, she chose the field of academics and diplomacy. She was also a teacher at Sophia University in Tokyo and in 1979 she was the first woman to represent Japan at the United Nations and also served as a UN Human Rights Commission from 1982 till 1985 followed by being the UN high commissioner for refugees from 1991 to 2000. Ogata had visited nearly 40 countries as high commissioner often spotted in a bulletproof jacket and a helmet to personally witness the situation of refugees. 

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'I have to be on the ground'

During an interview in 1989, Ogata has that she feels the need to be on the field with the people to see their suffering from being displaced even after the refugees return back home. Ogata believed that without herself witnessing the real happenings, Ogata will be unable to give instructions to her staff. The current high commissioner of the UN, Filippo Grandi called Ogata 'a visionary leader' who led the organization through the most significant decades in history and transformed millions of lives along with her contribution to the geopolitical landscape.

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(With AP inputs)