UNITED NATIONS, April 3 (UPI) -- Kiyotaka Akasaka, a Japanese diplomat with a long career in multilateral organizations, is the new chief of the U.N. Department of Public Information.
Akasaka has already worked for several U.N. agencies and has experience in public relations. He served as Japan's ambassador to the United Nations between 2000 and 2001, and held a post at the Japanese Foreign Ministry's multilateral cooperation department from 1997 to 2000. He was one of Japan's top negotiators in the Kyoto conference on climate change and other international meetings.
Since August 2003, Akasaka was deputy secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, where his responsibilities included development, environment, sustainable development and partnerships with other international organizations. He has also held positions at the Secretariat of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, precursor of the U.N. World Trade Organization, and at the U.N. World Health Organization.
Akasaka, who succeeds Shashi Tharoor as undersecretary-general for communications and public information, signed a declaration at U.N. World Headquarters in New York on Monday.
