Joon OH

Oh Joon is Chair of Save the Children Korea and Chair of the Advisory Committee to Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). Previously he was Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations in New York from 2013 to 2016. During the period, he also served as President of the UN Economic and Social Council and President of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2015 and 2016. As President of the CRPD Conference, he initiated UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/70/170 in 2015, entitled ‘Towards the full realization of an inclusive and accessible United Nations for persons with disabilities’. Rehabilitation International (RI) awarded him a Global Presidential Award in 2016 in acknowledgment of this and other achievements. He is currently working with several civil society organizations on the rights of persons with disabilities, including as a Senior Advisor for the Korea Federation of Disability Organizations and a trustee of Rehabilitation International Korea (RI Korea). He was also Co-Chair of the Organizing Committee of Busan World Disability Conference in 2023. He received a Master’s degree in International Policy Studies from Stanford University in 1992.