Ms. Ai Kihara-Hunt

Ms. Ai Kihara-Hunt (Japan) was appointed as the UN Special Rapporteur on the sale, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2026. She assumed her mandate on 1 May 2026.

Ms. Kihara-Hunt is an international lawyer with over 25 years of professional experience, specializing in international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and the law of peace operations. She holds a PhD in Law from the University of Essex. Her background in human rights protection and promotion, transitional justice and accountability includes service with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and UN peacekeeping operations.

Ms. Kihara-Hunt is currently a Professor at the University of Tokyo, where her research and teaching focus on human rights, accountability, and peace and security. She was a member of the Independent Study on Future of Peacekeeping, New Models and Related Capabilities, commissioned by the UN Department of Peace Operations in preparation for the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial 2025. Subsequently she chaired the Japanese Cabinet Office's Study Group on International Cooperation.

Since 2005, she has worked closely with UN entities to strengthen prevention, accountability and institutional response to sexual exploitation and abuse associated with UN peacekeeping operations, and has authored over ten publications on the issue.  

Prior to joining the University of Tokyo, Ms. Kihara-Hunt served as a member of the UN Police Doctrinal Development Group and worked with OHCHR in Nepal on transitional justice, mapping serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and supporting security sector reform initiatives. She provided assistance to Special Procedures mandates at OHCHR headquarters and to the Independent Special Commission of Inquiry for Timor-Leste. She has also worked with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Sri Lanka, the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor (CAVR), and the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET).