Ex-top UN refugee official, Japan's Sadako Ogata, dies at 92

Sadako Ogata, a former top U.N. refugee official and one of first Japanese woman to hold a top job at an international organization, has died. She was 92.

The government-funded Japan International Cooperation Agency, where she last served, said Tuesday that Ogata on Oct. 22 but the cause was not disclosed.

Ogata, the great-grand daughter of former Prime Minister Tsuyoshi Inukai, earned a doctoral degree in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, after finishing master’s degree at Georgetown University, but sought a career in diplomacy.

She served as U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in 1991-2000 and was often seen in her helmets while visiting conflict-torn areas such as Rwanda and former Yugoslavia.

Ogata served JICA from 2003 to 2012.