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Angela Kane
Kane in 2015
United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs
In office 8 March 2012 (2012-03-08) – 2015 (2015)
Preceded by	Sergio de Queiroz Duarte
Succeeded by	Kim Won-soo
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Management
In office May 2008 (2008-05) – 2012 (2012)
Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs
In office 2006 (2006) – 2008 (2008)
Personal details
Born	(1948-09-29) September 29, 1948 (age 77) Hamelin, Lower Saxony, Allied-occupied Germany
Alma mater	Bryn Mawr College Johns Hopkins University
Awards	Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2015) Dag Hammarskjöld Medal (2016)

Angela Kane (born September 29, 1948) is a German^[1] diplomat and was formerly the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs and Under-Secretary-General for Management in the United Nations.^[2]

Education and career

Kane was born in Hamelin, Lower Saxony, Germany and attended LMU Munich. She holds degrees from Bryn Mawr College and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California.^[3][4][5]

Before she joined the UN Secretariat in 1977, Kane worked for the World Bank in Washington, D.C. and in the private sector in Europe.

Later life

As of 2016, Kane teaches at Sciences Po Paris School of International Affairs on disarmament issues.^[9] Since 2019, Kane has also been teaching Leading in International Organizations at Tsinghua University Schwarzman College as part of the Schwarzman Scholars program.^[10] She is a Senior Fellow at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation.^[11] and the Vice President of the International Institute for Peace in Vienna^[12] In 2015, she received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Grosses Verdienstkreuz).^[13] In 2016 she also received the Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Star High Award from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Austria.^[14] Also in 2016, Kane received the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal from then Foreign Minister Steinmeier.^[15]

In April 2016, Kane was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Director-General Irina Bokova of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to the governing council of the United Nations University.^[16] In 2019, she was appointed Chair of the UNU Council.^[17]

In August 2021, Kane assumed the position of Sam Nunn Distinguished Fellow at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), supporting NTI's work on global threat reduction.^[18]

In addition, Kane holds various positions, including the following:

• Co-chair of the Regional Future Council on the Korean Peninsula, World Economic Forum (WEF)^[19]
• Member, Group of Eminent Persons for Substantive Advancement of Nuclear Disarmament, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan ^[20]
• Member, European Leadership Network^[21]
• Member, Group of Eminent Persons (GEM), Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBTO)^[22]
• Chair, Board of Directors, Dialogue Advisory Group (DAG)^[23]
• Vorstandsmitglied, Österreichische Gesellschaft für Aussenpolitik und die Vereinten Nationen (OEGVN)
• Senior Fellow, Vienna Center for Disarmament and Nonproliferation (VCDNP)
• Vice President, International Institute for Peace (IIP)^[24]
• Member of the advisory board, Security Council Report^[25]
• Member, Board of Directors, Arms Control Association
• Member of the International Board, Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC)^[26]
• Member of the Strategic Committee, Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA)^[27]
• Advisory Fellow, Foreign Policy Association

Personal life

Angela Kane was married to the Dutch diplomat Herman Knippenberg, who was attached to the Dutch embassy in Bangkok in the mid-seventies at the time when the French serial killer Charles Sobhraj was on his killing spree in Thailand and Nepal. The couple were the first to investigate Sobhraj's crimes, eventually building up a substantial body of knowledge which was handed over to Interpol and which played a critical role in the subsequent arrest and conviction of Sobhraj and his partner Marie-Andrée Leclerc. Kane was portrayed by the actress Ellie Bamber in the BBC serial on Sobhraj titled The Serpent which was broadcast in January 2021. Kane has stated that she was displeased by the diminution of her role in cracking the case, as portrayed in the series.^[28]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Angela Kane.

• "Secretary-General appoints Angela Kane of Germany USG for Management, Alicia Barcena Ibarra of Mexico executive Secretary of ECLAC (SG/A/1135)" (Press release). United Nations. 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2011-04-11.
• http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=41489&Cr=ban+ki-moon&Cr1=appoint