Biographical Note

Secretary-General Appoints Mari Yamashita Director

 

of United Nations Information Centre in Tokyo

 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is pleased to announce the appointment of Mari Yamashita as Director of the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Tokyo, Japan.  She will assume her new duties in mid-July.

A national of Japan, Ms. Yamashita is currently Head of the Political Affairs Office in the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN).  Her 20 years with the Organization include service as Team Leader for South-east Asia and the Pacific in the Department of Political Affairs, focusing on good offices efforts in Myanmar, Fiji, Timor-Leste, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) relations and mediation support (2007-2010).  As Political Officer for Southern Africa (2001-2007), her responsibilities included providing support to the Secretary-General’s Special Representatives for Angola, Northern Uganda and Zimbabwe.

As a Political/Electoral Expert, Ms. Yamashita served as Deputy Chief Electoral Officer with the United Nations Transitional Administration in Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) (1996-1997) and United Nations Coordinator of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe-United Nations Joint Operation in Armenia (1994).  While working for the Electoral Assistance Division in the Department of Political Affairs (1992-2001), she managed more than 20 electoral assistance projects in Africa, Asia, Central and South America.  Ms. Yamashita joined the Organization in December 1990 as an Associate Political Affairs Officer in the Secretary-General’s Office for Research and the Collection of Information.

Prior to joining the United Nations, she worked as a Legal Clerk with Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton in Tokyo (1990); a Research Assistant at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (1989-1990); Special Assistant to the Director of the Tokyo United Nations Information Centre (1988); and an interpreter/translator for company executives and visiting scholars (1984-1988).

Ms. Yamashita has a Master of Arts degree in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in the United States, and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Jochi Daigaku ( Japan).

She is married and has one son.

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