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

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 (UNDDR).

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

Tonight, we celebrate the progress of LDCs and SIDS in strengthening early warning systems.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
Closing remarks from the SRSG at the third Multi-hazard Early Warning Conference
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
The theme for today’s Forum - Towards Inclusive, Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Cities – is more important than ever. We are living in an era of triple and overlapping crises.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
The aim of today’s session is to extrapolate further insight into how the private sector and ARISE can contribute to accelerating DRR and how this engagement can be done in an all-of-society manner.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction

Video messages


Articles and Op Eds

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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