Kenzo Oshima, appointed Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator in January 2001, came to OCHA from Japan’s diplomatic service. Oshima previously served as Executive Director of the Secretariat for International Peace Cooperation Headquarters in the Office of the Prime Minister of Japan where he was responsible for Japan’s emergency humanitarian and peacekeeping assistance programs.  Before that, he was in charge of Japan’s foreign assistance program as Director General of the Foreign Ministry’s Economic Cooperation Bureau and Managing Director of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).  Mr. Oshima’s career in international affairs includes postings in France, India, Australia, and in New York at the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations and as Political Minister at the Japanese Embassy in Washington.

One of his first missions as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator took Mr . Oshima to refugee centres in Afghanistan.  The visit made an indelible mark and, throughout his term, he worked tirelessly to alleviate the plight of refugees in Afghanistan, the Sudan, Liberia, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo and other places.  Mr. Oshima also placed high priority in addressing natural disaster issues and, during his term, launched the Humanitarian Liaison Information Group to reinforce effective coordination in the area of disaster response and reduction.  To this end, he engaged in systematic dialogue with the G77 and donor countries.

At a personal level, Mr. Oshima took the issue of Chernobyl to heart, being a Hiroshima survivor.  In his capacity as United Nations Coordinator of International Cooperation on Chernobyl, he launched the report "The Human Consequences of the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident: A Strategy for Recovery."After leaving the United Nations service, Oshima returned to Japan's diplomatic service, first as Japan's Ambassador to Australia, and currently as Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations in New York. 

He is married with two children.