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Kenzo Oshima

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Kenzo Oshima
大島賢三
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
In office
January 2001 – June 2003
Preceded bySérgio Vieira de Mello
Succeeded byJan Egeland
Personal details
Born(1943-05-14)14 May 1943
Hiroshima, Japan
Died29 May 2021(2021-05-29) (aged 78)
Alma materUniversity of Tokyo

Kenzo Oshima (大島 賢三, Ōshima Kenzō, May 14, 1943 – May 29, 2021) was a Japanese diplomat.

Biography

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Oshima was the recipient of a law degree from the University of Tokyo before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1967. He served as the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs from 2001 to 2003, and was also Japan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2004 to 2007.[1]

Before his appointment as Ambassador to the UN, he was the Ambassador of Japan to Australia from September 2003 to December 2004. In mid-January 2001, Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed him head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Prior to this, he was Secretary-General of the Secretariat for International Peace Cooperation Headquarters in the Office of the Prime Minister of Japan, where he oversaw Japan's peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance program. During his early diplomatic career he was posted abroad to France, India, Australia, and the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations headquarters in New York City. He was also managing director of the Africa Society of Japan.[2]

On a personal level, Oshima took the issue of Chernobyl to heart, being a Hiroshima survivor. In his capacity as United Nations Coordinator of International Cooperation on Chernobyl, he launched the report The Human Consequences of the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident: A Strategy for Recovery.[3]

He was married and had two children.

Oshima died of a heart attack on May 29, 2021, at the age of 78.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b 大島賢三氏が死去 元国連大使 (in Japanese)
  2. ^ "The Passing of Kenzo Oshima, UNITAR Prosperity Board Member and UNITAR Association Chair". United Nations iNstitute for Training and Research. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  3. ^ "PRESS CONFERENCE ON CHERNOBYL BY OFFICE FOR COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS". United Nations: Meetings Coverage and Press Releases. 6 February 2002. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
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Positions in intergovernmental organisations
Preceded by Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
2001–2003
Succeeded by