The other day, I had an opportunity to meet with Ms. Hideko Hadzialic, Director of the UNDP Representation Office in Tokyo, and hear about her career spanning more than 20 years, during which she has worked on both the front lines of UN field operations and at the heart of policy-making.
After graduating from Doshisha University, she earned master’s degrees from the University of the Philippines Graduate School and Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. After gaining practical experience at a U.S. private consulting firm and an NGO, she was dispatched in 2001 as a UNV (United Nations Volunteer) to provide election support in post-conflict Fiji. In 2002, she was assigned to the UNDP office in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a Junior Professional Officer (JPO), where she was in charge of the governance program. In 2006, she was assigned to the UNDP office in Iraq, where she led challenging assistance projects such as mine action, agricultural recovery, and poverty reduction. She subsequently served as Deputy Resident Representative in Bhutan (from 2011) and Deputy Resident Representative in Sudan (from 2017), providing meticulous and robust support while listening closely to the voices of local communities. She also demonstrated her leadership at UNDP headquarters in New York, where she worked in the Bureau for Development Policy from 2007 to support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). From 2014, as a Management Advisor in the Office of the Administrator, she made significant contributions to advancing organizational reform. In Kuwait, her most recent posting in the Middle East, she served as UNDP Resident Representative beginning in 2019, and from April 2023, she assumed the important role of UN Resident Coordinator, overseeing all UN agencies in the country.
Her intelligence evident in every word she spoke, her meticulous consideration for others, and her crystal-clear, gentle manner of speaking—each of these qualities is imbued with a refined beauty, and I was deeply impressed by the quiet, dignified grace unique to someone who has navigated the turbulent waters of international diplomacy. At a time when the world faces complex challenges, it is truly a cause for great joy that we have been able to welcome such a reliable and charismatic leader to help deepen the bond between Japan and the United Nations. I am confident that she will serve as a new bridge connecting Japan and the world. (Sukehiro Hasegawa)
