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UN refugee chief welcomes nomination of his successor

Xinhua, November 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres on Thursday welcomed the announcement in the UN headquarters in New York of the nomination of Italian diplomat Filippo Grandi as his successor.

Saying that Grandi is a highly respected leader with a wealth of international and refugee experience, Guterres noted that "given the scale and urgency of today's refugee crisis, with 60 million people worldwide uprooted by conflict and persecution, someone of his abilities and profound knowledge of forced displacement will be of great benefit."

Grandi's nomination was announced earlier on Wednesday at UN headquarters by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. The General Assembly is expected to elect the new High Commissioner in the coming days.

Guterres ends his role of over 10 years as UN High Commissioner for refugees on 31 December 2015. His term, which began in June 2005, spanned one of the most tumultuous decades in the UN refugee agency UNHCR's history.

With more than 9,300 staff in some 123 countries, UNHCR will mark its 65th anniversary of founding next month.

Grandi was Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) from 2010 to 2014 and its Deputy Commissioner-General from 2005 until 2010.

He served as the Secretary-General's Deputy Special Representative with the United Nations 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. Endit