Minja Yang

Minja Yang

Minja Yang, Japanese of Korean origin, is Chargée de Mission to the Assistant Director General for Culture in UNESCO and Director for Special Projects. She obtained a BA in Sociology of Development from Georgetown University (Washington DC), MA in Political Science and post-graduate Diploma in Political Theory from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London. After working as a reporter on economic issues in Bangkok and Hong Kong, she joined the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1979, serving in Bangkok, then Tokyo until 1985. Moving to Geneva, she worked for the Independent Commission for International Humanitarian Issues (ICIHI) and at UNHCR Headquarters until 1989 when she joined UNESCO. She served successively in the Cabinet of the Director-General for the coordination of UNESCO involvement in UN Inter-agency Programmes, then as Chief of Emergency Unit of the Bureau for Operational Activities (1990), then Head of Inter-sectoral Task Force on Cambodia and concurrently chief of the Angkor Unit (1992-94) before joining the World Heritage Centre in 1994 as Chief of Asia Pacific Unit and also responsible for the Information Unit. She served as Deputy Director of the World Heritage Centre and coordinator of the World Heritage Cities Programme from 1999 to 2003 prior to her current appointment as, Chargée de mission to the Assistant Director General for Culture of UNESCO. As the Director for Special Projects, she coordinates the Organisation's inter-sectoral programmes on Capacity-building of Local Governments in Cultural Resources Management, and Fighting Poverty through Heritage. She also coordinates the Rivers and Heritage Programme (joint Science & Culture Sector activities), the new Programme for the Protection of Endangered Movable Cultural Properties and Museum Development and serves as the UNESCO Secretary to the France-UNESCO Cooperation Programme for the Protection and Enhancement of Monumental, Urban and Natural Heritage.

She has been decorated by the governments of Vietnam, Laos and France for her contribution to cultural development.

She is married to a French journalist and they have two children.

Title:
Chargée de mission to the Assistant Director-General for Culture, andDirector for Special Projects, Culture Sector, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Professional Address:
UNESCO
Culture Sector
1 rue Miollis, 75015 Paris, France
email : m.yang@unesco.org
tel : + 33.1.45.68.46.09 or + 33.1.45.68.45.44

Personal Address :
20 rue du Petit Musc, 75004 Paris, France

Date & Place of Birth:
21 March 1952, Tokyo, Japan

Nationality:
Japanese

Work Experience

• Current events commentator on television
• Journalistic experience covering ASEAN - EC economic/political relations; energy resources development in SE Asia; humanitarian issues,
• Project development/management :
  • humanitarian aid to Indochinese refugees and displaced persons in SE Asia and East Asia
  • humanitarian aid to refugees in the Horn of Africa
  • project design and fund-raising for humanitarian aid - donor countries/institutions in Japan, Italy, France, European Union
  • International Programme for the Safeguarding and Development of Angkor (Cambodia) 1989 - 1994 as Coordinator
  • Programme for the Safeguarding and Development of Luang Prabang (Laos) 1996 - present, as Coordinator
  • Programme for the Urban Renewal of the Historic Areas of Istanbul (Turkey) 1996 - present, as Coordinator
  • Programme for World Heritage Cities (with pilot projects in Asia & Africa based on North-South city-to-city partnerships with European local governments), 1997 - 2003 responsible as Coordinating Director
  • Programme on "Fighting Urban Poverty through Heritage" (with pilot projects in Asia, Africa and Latin America), as Coordinating Director, 2002 - present
  • Programme on Rivers and Heritage, as Coordinating Director for the Culture Sector of this joint Culture-Science Programme, (with pilot projects in Asia, Africa and Europe) 2004 - present
  • Programme for France-UNESCO Cooperation for the Protection of Monumental, Urban and Natural Heritage , responsible as UNESCO Secretary to the Governing Committee, 1997 - present
  • Programme for the Protection of Endangered Cultural Assets and Museums, as Coordinating Director, 2004 - present
  • Other direct project development/implementation involvement in: Kathmandu (Nepal), Lhasa (Tibet, China), Lijiang (China), 6 Canal Towns of the Wu Kingdom in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province (China), Silk Road (China segment), Manila & Vigan (Philippines), Hue (Vietnam), Darjeeling & Hampi (India), Bali (Indonesia) Porto Novo & Ouidah (Benin), St Louis (Senegal), Zeugma (Turkey), "Il Real Albergo dei Poveri, Naples (Italy) among others
  • Supervisory functions over numerous other projects in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Arab States and Europe, as Deputy Director of the World Heritage Centre and as coordinator for cultural properties.
• Events/campaign organization as chief commissioner/director (selection only):
  • Exhibition of Toys made by Indochinese Refugee Children (1980)
  • International Conference for Assistance to Refugees in Africa (ICARA II) in 1981, responsible for campaign in Japan
  • Inter-governmental Conference on Angkor, Tokyo, (1990), responsible as Coordinator (inaugurated by the Foreign Minister of Japan)
  • International Conference on Architecture and Cities for the 21st Century, Valencia, (1998), responsible as General Commissioner (inaugural conference of the Valencia Conference Centre built to the design of Sir Norman Foster, and opened by HRM, the King of Spain)
  • International Conference for the Mayors of Historic Cities of Europe and China, Suzhou, China (1998), responsible as Commissioner (inaugurated by the Minister of Construction of China)
  • International Seminar on the Integrity of Historic Cities, Nara, Japan (1999)
  • Virtual Congress on the Management of World Heritage Sites (internet linked conferences in Alexandria (Egypt) on IT & Hertiage; Paris (France) on Decentralization and Heritage; Beijing (China) on Architecture for Heritage Tourism; Dakar (Senegal) on Training for Heritage in Africa; and in Mexico City (Mexico) on Social Equity in Urban Conservation; and other related events on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention (2002), responsible as General Commissioner
  • African Cities and Heritage, special session of the AFRICITES Congress, Yaounde, Cameroun, (2003), responsible as Coordinator
  • "Renewing the Dialogue between Rivers and Cities" networking session at the World Urban Forum of UN-Habitat within the framework of Barcelona 2004, responsible as Coordinator, September 2004

Publications:

• « Interaction between the Centre and the Periphery : The Communist Movement in Thailand » (1979) Asahi Review Publishing Co. (based on Master's disseration)
• « Little Chea » (1983) fiction of the exodus of a Cambodian girl after the fall of Phnom Penh, Holp Publishing Co. Tokyo
• « Mama Also Works » (1985) to promote better understanding and support for working mothers in Japan, on the occasion of the ratification by Japan of the International Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Holp Publishing Co., Tokyo
• numerous articles and published speeches on the politics of humanitarian aid and on cultural heritage protection in Japanese, American, English and French journals and magazines

Awards/Decorations:

• Decoration for Culture awarded by the Council of Ministers of Vietnam (1999)
• Chevalier des Arts et Lettres, Ministry of Culture, France (2001)
• Friendship Award for Culture, awarded by Council of Ministers of Lao DPR (2003)