Filippo Grandi of Italy was elected by the United Nations General Assembly as the next United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, for a period of five years beginning on 1 January 2016.
He will take over from Antonio Guterres of Portugal.
Mr. Grandi was Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) from 2010 to 2014, and it’s Deputy Commissioner-General from 2005 until 2010.
He served as the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and has a long-standing career with UNHCR, notably as Chief of Mission in Afghanistan and Chief of Staff in the High Commissioner’s Executive Office.
His vast UNHCR field experience includes various positions in Sudan, Syria, Turkey and Iraq, having also led emergency operations in Kenya, Benin, Ghana, Liberia, the Great Lakes region of Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo and Yemen.