Izumi Nakamitsu of Japan appointed new UN disarmament chief

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed a veteran U.N. official from Japan, Izumi Nakamitsu, as the world body’s new disarmament chief.

She is currently assistant administrator for crisis response at the U.N. Development program. Previously, she served as U.N. special adviser on follow-up to the summit on refugees and migrants, and in the U.N. peacekeeping department as director of the Asia and Middle East division.

Nakamitsu will succeed Kim Won-soo of South Korea as high representative for disarmament affairs with the rank of undersecretary-general.

Between 2005 and 2008, she was a professor of international relations at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo.

U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Wednesday “she’s a very dedicated and professional member of the United Nations … and has expertise in a lot of the work we do.”