UN Day 2007
Speaker & Panellist Biographies
日本語 (Japanese)
Per Engebak
Regional Director, UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office, Nairobi, Kenya
Prior to his appointment as Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa Region, Mr. Per Engebak served as Regional Director for The Americas and the Caribbean Region since 1999. He joined UNICEF in 1975 as Project Manager in Sudan. In 1994, Mr. Engebak was appointed Chief, Americas Section in New York Headquarters, where he was responsible for the technical and programmatic support. He then became UNICEF Representative in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in 1998, where he was responsible for UNICEF's liaison office to the African Union and the Economic Commission for Africa. Mr. Engebak, a national of Norway, received his engineering degree in 1968 from the Oslo Engineering School.
Shinichi Hasegawa
Director, ILO Office in Japan
Shinichi Hasegawa graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo, in 1972. He joined the Ministry of Labour the same year. He was First Secretary, Permanent Delegation of Japan to OECD in Paris in 1984 and has held posts such as Director, Labour Legislation Division, Labour Relations Bureau, Director, Trade Union Division, Labour Relations Bureau, and Director, Personnel Affairs Division, Minister’s Secretariat. He was the Director-General, Employment Measures for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities Department in 1998, Assistant Minister for International Affairs, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in 2002, Regional Director, ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok and was appointed to his current post in 2006.
Tatsuo Hayashi
Board Chair, Hottokenai Sekai no Mazushisa, Japanese Chapter of Global Call to Action against Poverty, and Board Chair of Africa-Japan Forum
Dr. Hayashi holds an M.D. degree from Ehime University and previously worked in the Department of Surgery, Yokohama National Hospital. In 1983, he began medical and health aid services in Africa and Asia as an NGO staff member. He is a former representative of the Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC) and was advisor to the Japanese delegation at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in 2002.
Kunihiko Hirabayashi
Senior Programme Officer, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Tokyo Office
Since 1994, Dr. Hirabayashi has extended technical assistance to developing countries as a Technical Advisor for the Center for International Medical Cooperation, International Medical Center of Japan, Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Prior to his current appointment (in 2006), he served as Senior Programme Advisor to the Ministry of Public Health, Afghanistan; Senior Project Officer and Health and Nutrition Section Chief, UNICEF Afghanistan; and Health and Nutrition Emergency Programme Chief, UNICEF Lebanon. He holds a Ph.D. in medicine from the University of Tsukuba.
Kiyoko Ikegami
Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Tokyo Office
Kiyoko Ikegami previously served as Director, Research and Planning Division, and Director, Planning and Development Division, of the Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning (JOICFP), and as Resource Mobilization Officer at the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) in London. She became Director of the UNFPA Tokyo Office in 2002. She has served as a member of the External Advisory Meeting on ODA Evaluation and as an external expert to the Advisory Committee on Evaluation and Advisory Council on Assistance to Women in Afghanistan.
Yoko Ishida
Vice President, TICAD Civil Society Forum
Dr. Ishida holds an M.D. degree from Tokyo University. She previously worked as General Manager of the Social Development Department, Koei Research Institute International Corporation. She is an Adjunct Instructor, Tokyo University, and since 2006 has been a Senior Researcher of International Development Center of Japan (IDCJ). One of here major publications is the TCSF White Paper 2005: Overcoming Poverty and Inequity (an evaluation by civil society of Japan's policy toward African countries).
Marjon Kamara
Director, Bureau for Africa, UNHCR
Prior to her appointment as Director of Bureau for Africa in 2005, Ms. Marjon Kamara has served as Director for Division of Operational Support in UNHCR Headquarters since 2001. She was UNHCR Representative in Tanzania and Angola in 1998 and 1994, respectively. Her career with UNHCR started 1983, working in UNHCR's Africa Operations under various assignments, including that of Emergency Coordinator. She has also taken Administrative responsibility in UNHCR Africa Bureau since 1990. Ms. Marjon Kamara is a Liberian national.
Misako Konno
Goodwill Ambassador, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
A graduate of Keio University, Misako Konno debuted as an actress in 1979 in the movie "Ogon no Partner" ("Golden Partner"). She currently appears in various television programmes, movies and stage productions. An active writer, she received the 1995 Japan Writer's Prize, Women's Literary Category, for her science essay "Sora Tobu Hotate" ("The Flying Scallop"). Since being appointed UNDP Goodwill Ambassador in 1998, she has visited numerous countries in Asia and Africa (including Bhutan, Cambodia, Ghana, Mongolia, Palestine, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam).
Minoru Matsuzaki
Manager, Corporate Social Responsibility Division, Olympus Corporation
Minoru Matsuzaki assumed his current post in July 2007. He joined Olympus Optical. Co. Ltd. after graduating from Keio University with a degree in electrical engineering, and worked for 19 years in camera technology development. In 1997, he became a Senior R&D Liaison and Senior Engineering Manager in the Olympus US business unit, where he started social marketing initiatives. He then worked as General Manager of Marketing Planning and Global Sponsorships, and in 2006 became Manager of the Global Marketing & Planning Department, Olympus Imaging.
Suzan Mercado
Team Leader, Urbanization and Health Equity, WHO Centre for Health Development, Kobe
Susan Mercado (M.P.H., M.D.) served as Undersecretary and Chief of Staff, Department of Health, the Philippines, and as Assistant Professor for Research, National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines. From 2001 to 2004, she handled health promotion, including Healthy Cities at the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office (covering 36 countries). In addition to her current post with the WHO Centre for Health Development in Kobe, she heads the Secretariat of the Knowledge Network on Urban Settings, WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health.
Shun-ichi Murata
Director, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Tokyo Office
Shun-ichi Murata holds a graduate degree in political science/international relations from George Washington University and a Master of Public Administration degree from Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. After joining UNDP in 1981, he served as Assistant Resident Representative, UNDP China; Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP Mongolia and UNDP Philippines; and UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Bhutan. After serving for four years as a Professor in the School of Policy Studies, Kwansei Gakuin University, he assumed his current post with UNDP in November 2006.
Chieko Nohno
Member, House of Councilors, Japan (Liberal Democratic Party); Former Minister of Justice and Vice Minister of Health
Chieko Nohno was born in Manchuria. After graduating from a "birth attendant" school affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine, Osaka University, she went to the UK to study birth attending and nursing. After returning to Japan, she held such positions as Professor, School of Allied Health Sciences, Yamaguchi University; Executive Committee Member, International Confederation of Midwives; Vice Minister, Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare; Vice-Secretary-General, Liberal Democratic Party; and Minister of Justice.
Dan Rohrmann
Director, UNICEF Tokyo Office for Japan and the Republic of Korea
Dan Rohrmann has worked for 24 years for such UN agencies as UNHCR, UNEP, UNDP and UNICEF. He has been engaged in emergency and development programmes both in agency headquarters and in country offices. He was Special Representative for UNICEF Palestinians from August 2004 to March 2007. He also has been Deputy Director for the UNICEF Programme Funding Office in New York.
Tomoko Saotome
Obstetrician & Gynecologist
Tomoko Saotome is a graduate of Tsukuba University. She previously served as Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fureai Yokohama Hospital. She currently is a JICA Member of the Final Evaluation for Vietnamese Safe Motherhood Project; Vice President of the Professional Women's Coalition for Sexuality and Health; and member of the UNFPA Tokyo Advisory Committee. Her specialties are population issues, family planning and reproductive health.
Saburo Takizawa
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representation in Japan
Saburo Takizawa has extensive experience at UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva and with other UN agencies in Vienna. He formerly was Controller and Director, Division of Financial and Supply Management, UNHCR Headquarters. After joining the UN Office at Geneva in 1981, he held positions with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Vienna, Amman and Beirut, and with United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). He holds an M.B.A. degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
Ryoichi Udagawa
Managing Director, Tree of Life Co., Ltd.
Ryoichi Udagawa joined Tokosha Ltd. (the forerunner of Tree of Life) in 1973. When the company entered the herb business, he conducted general planning and marketing as well as development of herbal products in agricultural fields in and outside of Japan. He has good knowledge of West African traditional manufacture of Shea butter, and was dispatched in 2005 as a professional advisor of JETRO to assist with Shea butter manufacturing in Ghana and Nigeria.
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Page last modified 2019.04.16.
