Izumi Nakamitsu has served as the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs since 2017. She has extensive experience in peacekeeping, peacebuilding, humanitarian affairs, and international relations, having held several senior positions within the UN system.

Before joining her current role, she worked with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and served as a professor of International Relations at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo. She holds a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Law from Waseda University.