Mr. Filippo Grandi of Italy – UN High Commissioner for Refugees (confirmed by the General Assembly)
Following the recommendation of the Secretary-General, after consultation with Member States, the General Assembly confirmed Filippo Grandi of Italy as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for a further two-and-a-half-years beginning on 1 July 2023 and ending on 31 December 2025. Mr. Grandi is currently serving the first two-and-a-half-year period of his second term as UNHCR’s High Commissioner.
While the Secretary-General had intended to request the General Assembly to elect Mr. Grandi for a second term of five years, Mr. Grandi was agreeable, owing to personal reasons, to the shorter term. The Secretary-General proposed to the General Assembly that Mr. Grandi’s term be extended for a further two-and-a-half-years after Mr. Grandi conveyed to the Secretary-General that he is available to serve a full five-year term.
Before becoming High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr. Grandi was engaged in international cooperation for over 30 years, focusing on refugee and humanitarian work. He served as Commissioner-General of the United Nations Agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, from 2010 to 2014, having been the organization’s Deputy Commissioner-General since 2005. Prior to that, Mr. Grandi served as Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General in Afghanistan, following a long career first with NGOs and later with UNHCR in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and at the Organization’s Geneva Headquarters.