Kiyotaka Akasaka (02811049) (5866844690) (cropped)

is the former

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Under-Secretary-General An under-secretary-general of the United Nations (USG) is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the secretary-general for a renewable term of four years. Under-s ...

for Communications and

Public Information Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

. He was appointed to the position by the

UN Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-ge ...

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...

in February 2007. Akasaka also served as Coordinator for Multilingualism in the

UN Secretariat The United Nations Secretariat (french: link=no, Secrétariat des Nations unies) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), The secretariat is the UN's executive arm. The secretariat has an important role in setting the a ...

. He completed his appointment at the UN in March 2012 and was succeeded by

Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal served as the Under-Secretary-General for Public Information at the United Nations from August 2012 to January 2015, succeeding Kiyotaka Akasaka. He is also the United Nations Coordinator for Multilingualism, a position ...

of Austria. A career diplomat, Mr. Akasaka has served several multilateral organizations in different capacities. From 2003 to 2007, he was the Deputy Secretary-General of the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries ...

(OECD), where he was responsible for issues on development, environment, sustainable development and building and maintaining partnership with other international organizations. From 1997 to 2000, he served as Deputy Director-General in the Multilateral Cooperation Department of the

Japanese Foreign Ministry The is an executive department of the Government of Japan, and is responsible for the country's foreign policy and international relations. The ministry was established by the second term of the third article of the National Government Organi ...

. He acted as one of the top negotiators in the Kyoto Conference on Climate Change in December 1997. From 2000 to 2001, he served as the

Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people The are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Japanese archipelago."人類学上 ...

. Previously, he worked at the Secretariat of the

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas. According to its pre ...

(GATT) (1988–1991) and the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

(1993–1997). Akasaka joined the Japanese Foreign Ministry in April 1971, where he held several posts. He was Deputy Director of the Press Division and later the Ministry's Spokesman on

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

issues for many years. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts in law from

Kyoto University , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = National university, Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 1000000000 (number), billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff ...

in 1971. In the following year, he pursued his studies at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, where he obtained a Bachelor and a Master of Arts in economics. He co-authored the books ''The GATT and the Uruguay Round Negotiations'' and ''The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety''. He also published many articles on trade, the environment and sustainable development in Japanese journals and newspapers. Aside from his native Japanese, Akasaka is also fluent in both English and French.

External links

The Biography of Kiyotaka Akasaka
UN. {{DEFAULTSORT:Akasaka, Kiyotaka Under-Secretaries-General of the United Nations World Health Organization officials Permanent Representatives of Japan to the United Nations Living people 1948 births Kyoto University alumni Japanese officials of the United Nations