Expert Profile



Ms Angela Kane
Position(s) Former High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs; Senior Fellow, Vienna Centre for Non-Proliferation and Disarmament

Ms Angela Kane is an Associate Fellow within the Global Fellowship Initiative of the GCSP. Ms Angela Kane of Germany was the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs from March 2012 to May 2015. She provided the Secretary-General with advice and support on all arms control, non-proliferation and related security matters and is responsible for the activities of the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs.

Ms Kane has had a long and distinguished career in the United Nations. In addition to substantive assignments in political affairs, peacekeeping and disarmament, she has held various managerial functions, including with financial and policy-setting responsibility. She served as Under-Secretary-General for Management from 2008-2012, overseeing human resources, financial management, procurement and support services and the renovation of the United Nations New York Headquarters campus.

From 2005 to 2008, Ms Kane served as Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, a core function related to the prevention and resolution of conflicts. Her geographic responsibilities included all regions except Africa. Previously, she had served as the Assistant Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management.

Her field experience includes Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), a special assignment to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and postings in Indonesia and Thailand.

Ms Kane also held the positions of Director in the Department of Political Affairs and Director in the Department of Public Information. She served as Principal Political Officer with former Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali and worked with the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General for the Central American Peace Process. Ms Kane worked on disarmament issues for several years and was responsible for the activities of the World Disarmament Campaign.

Ms Kane was educated at the University of München, Bryn Mawr College and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She is married.