UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang will arrive in Nepal on Wednesday (30 January) for a five-day visit. The main purpose of her trip is to see firsthand the activities of OHCHR-Nepal, the largest of the organization's field presences in the world.

The Deputy High Commissioner will also assess the current human rights situation. In that regard, she will hold meetings with representatives of the Government of Nepal, UNMIN and UN agencies, the National Human Rights Commission, the international community and civil society. A press conference will be held before her departure on Sunday (3 February). Details of the press conference will be provided in coming days.

Biodata

Kyung-wha Kang was appointed Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights in September 2006 and took up the position on 15 January 2007. Her appointment is at the level of Assistant Secretary-General.

Before joining the United Nations, Ms. Kang, a national of the Republic of Korea, was Director-General of International Organizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic. She also served as Minister at the Republic of Korea Mission to the United Nations in New York and chaired the Commission on the Status of Women for its forty-eighth session in 2004 and its forty-ninth session in 2005, which marked the tenth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women.

Prior to joining the Foreign Service in 1998, Ms. Kang worked for the National Parliament of the Republic of Korea, assisting the Speaker of the National Assembly on global issues in the fields of human rights, women's advancement and parliamentary diplomacy. During that time, she also served as the spokeswoman of the Korean Women's NGO Committee at the Beijing Conference in 1995. Earlier in her career, she worked for the Korean Broadcasting System, and lectured in universities both in Korea and the United States.