Mr. Kamal Kishore of India - Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction

IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Kamal Kishore of India as Assistant Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).

He succeeds Mami Mizutori of Japan, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her service and commitment to the Organization.  The Secretary-General also wishes to extend his appreciation to the UNDRR Director, Paola Albrito, who will continue to serve as Acting Special Representative until Mr. Kishore assumes his position.

Currently Head of Department of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in the rank of Secretary to the Government of India (since 2015), Mr. Kishore brings to the position nearly three decades of experience in disaster risk reduction, climate action and sustainable development at the global, regional, national and local levels, having worked in government, the United Nations and civil society organizations.

As part of India’s Group of 20 (G20) presidency, he led the G20 Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction.  He also contributed to the development of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, launched by the Prime Minister of India at the Climate Action Summit in 2019. 

Before joining NDMA, Mr. Kishore spent nearly thirteen years with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Geneva, New Delhi and New York.  During this time, he led global advocacy to integrate disaster resilience concerns in the Sustainable Development Goals and a global team of disaster risk reduction advisers to support UNDP programme countries.

Prior to UNDP, he served as Director of Information and Research, and Manager of the Extreme Climate Events Programme covering Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam at the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre in Bangkok from 1996 to 2002, and as an Architect at the Action Research Unit for Development from 1992 to 1994 in New Delhi, where he worked on post-earthquake reconstruction projects.

Mr. Kishore holds a Master of Science in Urban Planning, Land and Housing Development from the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand, and a Bachelor of Architecture from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India.  Mr. Kishore is fluent in English and Hindi.