UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced the appointment of Italian diplomat Filippo Grandi as the new UN refugee chief, tasked with handling the world’s worst refugee crisis. The 58-year-old diplomat will replace Antonio Guterres, of Portugal, who was UN High Commissioner for Refugees since 2005. Grandi, who will take up the job on January 1, beat out former Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and German Achim Steiner, the director of the UN Environment Program, for the key appointment.

The choice of Grandi was seen as a nod to Italy, which has been hard-hit by the refugee crisis in Europe, but also as recognition of Grandi’s work in several tough UN positions. Before taking over the top posts at UNRWA, Grandi worked as deputy envoy to the UN aid mission in Afghanistan and was UNHCR’s chief of mission there.

Throughout his 25-year career at the UN, he was involved in UNHCR efforts in Sudan, Syria, Turkey and Iraq, and led humanitarian operations in Yemen and the Democratic Republic of Congo, among other countries.

Did You Know???

• The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), also known as the UN Refugee Agency, is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees.
• Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland and is a member of the United Nations Development Group.
• The UNHCR has won two Nobel Peace Prizes, once in 1954 and again in 1981.
• Since 1954, the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award has been annually awarded to a person or an organization in recognition of outstanding service to the cause of refugees, displaced or stateless people.

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