--- description: Sadako Ogata is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century. title: Sadako Ogata: 100 Women of the Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e54a40e8ae94c93/698a0aec97cdff25586ba695/social-1995_Sadako-Ogata.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 1995: Sadako Ogata Mar 5, 2020 11:40 AM CUT  Buy the cover art→ Buy the cover art→Illustration by Manjit Thapp for TIME; Brecher-Schulz/Ullstein Bild via Getty by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2020 11:40 AM CUT Sadako Ogata was settling in as the head of UNHCR in 1991 when more than a million Iraqi Kurds fled the fallout of the Gulf War. She jumped onto a helicopter to the Iraq-Turkey border to hear firsthand accounts and promised rapid aid. Nicknamed “the diminutive giant,” Ogata—who stood under 5 ft. tall—gained a reputation as a formidable negotiator. The only Japanese citizen and first woman to [lead the UNHCR](https://time.com/5315744/2018-unhcr-global-trends-report/ "undefined"), she was re-elected three times and boldly expanded the agency’s mandate to include internally displaced persons. Throughout the 1990s, which she called the “turbulent decade” of her tenure, she navigated crises in places from Afghanistan to the Balkans to Rwanda, helping to protect some of the world’s most vulnerable. _—Laignee Barron_ [**Buy the cover art→**](https://fineartamerica.com/featured/sadako-ogata-1995-time.html "undefined") --- _This article is part of_ [_100 Women of the Year_](https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ "undefined")_, TIME’s list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more_ [_about the project_](https://time.com/5793734/time-100-women-of-the-year-issue/ "undefined")_, explore the_ [_100 covers_](https://time.com/5793732/time-100-women-of-the-year-covers/ "undefined") _and sign up for our_ [_Inside TIME newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters?newsletter%5Fname=INSIDE%5FTIME&source=article-woy-footer "undefined") _for more._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5793729/sadako-ogata-100-women-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5793729/sadako-ogata-100-women-of-the-year/"},"headline":"1995: Sadako Ogata","datePublished":"2020-03-05T11:40:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:21:42.571Z","description":"Sadako Ogata is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century.","url":"https://time.com/5793729/sadako-ogata-100-women-of-the-year/","keywords":["Women of the Year"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e54a40e8ae94c93/698a0aec97cdff25586ba695/social-1995_Sadako-Ogata.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e54a40e8ae94c93/698a0aec97cdff25586ba695/social-1995_Sadako-Ogata.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SOCIAL - Women of the Year: 1995 Sadako-Ogata","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5793729/sadako-ogata-100-women-of-the-year/","name":"1995: Sadako Ogata"}}]}] ```