First female U.N. refugee chief dies at 92

Sadako Ogata, a former top United Nations official who was the first and only woman to serve as the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and became known for donning a helmet and flak jacket on trips into the field, has died, aged 92.

Japanese government officials said Ogata had died on Oct. 22 but they only announced her death on Tuesday. They did not give the cause of her death.

Her tenure as U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees during the 1990s coincided with genocide in Rwanda and ethnic conflict in the former Yugoslavia.

“She stood on the front lines of humanitarian issues such as poverty, refugees and conflicts, where she demonstrated outstanding leadership,” chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference on Tuesday.

“Her thinking, such as guaranteeing human security and emphasizing work in the field, is even now the basis for humanitarian aid efforts both in Japan and overseas,” he added.