Mami Mizutori
Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, and Head of UNDRR

Mami Mizutori is the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, and head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).

On 31 January 2018, the United Nations Secretary-General announced the appointment of Mami Mizutori as Assistant Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction. 

Prior to joining the UN, Ms. Mizutori was Executive Director of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, University of East Anglia, UK from 2011.

Ms. Mizutori served for twenty-seven years in the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in various capacities, including: Budget Director; Director of the Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC) at the Embassy of Japan in London; Director of the National Security Policy Division, Director of the United Nations Policy Division; Director of the Status of US Forces Agreement Division; and Deputy Director of the Personnel Division.

Having graduated in law from Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo and obtained a Diploma in International Studies from the Diplomatic School of Spain, she has taught courses on governance in East Asia at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University and international studies at Waseda University, Tokyo.

A Japanese national, Ms. Mizutori speaks fluent Japanese, English and Spanish. She is married to Barak Kushner and lives in Geneva, Switzerland.

SRSG Mami Mizutori


Recent statements

Moroccan Red Crescent teams on the ground to provide urgent assistance
The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) stands in solidarity with the people of Morocco in the wake of the earthquake that struck the country on Friday.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
Mami Mizutori
It is a pleasure to be a part of this global gathering for the Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework, a process mandated by the General Assembly that began in October 2021.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
climate protection landscape
I welcome the Synthesis Report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, who have been a leading voice on the danger posed by the runaway climate crisis.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
SRSG Mami Mizutori
The 8th anniversary of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 comes at a time of rapidly increasing global risks, fragility, and disaster losses.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction

Video messages


Articles and Op Eds

unite behind science
We need to apply scientific knowledge to Disaster Risk Management and promote the creation of risk science in view of the permanent and growing increases in hazards, vulnerabilities and greater exposure.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction – Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean
Joe biden
By Mami Mizutori Climate-vulnerable nations know all too well that action on the climate emergency is just as important as a successful and affordable vaccine against COVID-19. This year’s U.N. climate talks may have been postponed, but no one can take
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
La importancia de preparación en las ciudades.
Some 95% of COVID-19 cases have come from urban areas. Pandemic preparedness in cities and towns is more urgent than ever for reducing disaster risk, particularly in challenging situations where disease outbreaks could coincide with an extreme weather
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction – Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean
United Nations Human Settlements Programme - Headquarters
People in Macau, queue up to acquire face masks in a pharmacy
The health crisis stress-tests our ability to cooperate, learn and adapt in the face of deep uncertainties and rising risks. The new coronavirus, COVID-19, was declared a “public health emergency of international concern” by the World Health Organization
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
International Science Council (ISC)
Our work - Mami Mizutori
Q&A with Mami Mizutori
"90 percent of disaster funding is spent only after disaster strikes. It goes on relief, the response and reconstruction. Only 10 percent is spent on prevention. But the gap is widening between the need for humanitarian aid and what the international community is able to provide."
Read the interview

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