Dr Angela Kane
“I never had a mentor while I was climbing the ladder. It would have been so helpful to have a sounding board, to ask questions before decisions have to be taken, to get an impartial view from someone who has no stake in the issue other than the well-being and success of the mentee.
I am happy to share my experience throughout the European Union and various countries, in various functions and at various levels of seniority. Advice may not always be asked for, but listening attentively and providing feedback is sometimes the best way to proceed. EU-Topics that are important for me focus on: Women and Leadership, European Risk Management, and Technological Change/Digitalisation. Having lived and worked in several countries over the course of my career, I would also focus on mobility within the EU: how to deal with a move to another country, another culture, another work environment?”
Overview
Angela Kane, a well-known expert in political relations and negotiations, peace operations and disarmament, is a Senior Fellow at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, and Vice President of the International Institute for Peace in Vienna. Furthermore, she is member of United Europe.
Career History
Since 2016, she is Visiting Professor at the Paris School of International Affairs/SciencesPo and started teaching at Tsinghua University Schwarzman Scholars in Beijing in 2019, both at the graduate level. She has been a Member of the United Nations University Council since 2016 and was elected to Chair the Council in 2019. She is a member of the Group of Eminent Persons, Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, as well as a Member of the Group of Eminent Persons for Substantive Advancement for Nuclear Disarmament (Japan). In 2018, she was appointed Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum Regional Council on the Korean Peninsula. She is also a Member of the European Leadership Network; and serves on NGO Boards in Europe, United States, and Asia.
Until mid-2015, Ms. Kane served as the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. She led the ground-breaking investigation of alleged chemical weapons use in Syria in 2013, which resulted in Syria’s destruction of its chemical stocks. From 2008-2012, Ms. Kane served as the Under-Secretary-General for Management, heading the largest and most complex UN department, with responsibility for the global management of the UN. Ms. Kane also served as Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, focusing on the prevention and resolution of conflicts in all regions except Africa. Her field experience includes Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea, a special assignment to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and multi-year postings in Indonesia and Thailand.
Personal
Dr Kane studied at the University of München and holds degrees from Bryn Mawr College and the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She received an Honorary Doctorate from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California.