San José, Costa Rica
yoriko.yasukawa@foggs.org

Yoriko Yasukawa has worked for over 35 years in efforts to advance inclusive and sustainable development, human rights and cultures of peace, within and outside the United Nations system. In the UN, she has served as Regional Director of the UN Population Fund for Asia and the Pacific, UN Resident Coordinator in Bolivia and Costa Rica, UNICEF Associate Director for Policy, Advocacy and Knowledge Management and UNICEF Representative in Mexico and Ecuador.

Among other efforts, Yoriko has participated in the facilitation of negotiations that led to a national agreement on a new Constitution in Bolivia, the development of a citizens’ movement around universal basic education in Ecuador and the advancement of the rights of indigenous peoples and Afrodescendants in Costa Rica. She is currently a member of the roster of mediation experts for the Inter-American Development Bank Independent Investigation and Consultation Mechanism, and is a part-time lecturer at the Meiji Gakuin University in Yokohama. She also works as an independent journalist and consultant based in Costa Rica.