Barham Salih Appointed as the Next UN High Commissioner for Refugees

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Dr. Barham Salih.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Dr Barham Salih, the former President of Iraq, as the new United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The Secretary-General has asked the UN Executive Board to be notified that “Barham Ahmed Salih of Iraq will serve a five-year term commencing at the start of the new year.”

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is one of the UN’s most significant agencies. The High Commissioner is a senior official tasked with overseeing global efforts to safeguard the rights of millions of refugees and displaced people worldwide.

UNHCR was established by the United Nations to protect and assist refugees, supporting their voluntary return home, integration into host societies, or resettlement in third countries.

The agency faces considerable challenges, including ongoing conflicts and the mass displacement they cause, new pressures on asylum systems, widening gaps between humanitarian needs and available funding, and a troubling rise in xenophobia.

UNHCR’s principal responsibilities include:

1-Protection: Promoting and delivering legal and physical protection, and reducing the risk of violence—including sexual violence—which many refugees face, even within host countries.

2-Emergency Response: Responding rapidly to sudden crises, such as the outbreak of conflict that forces tens of thousands from their homes or major earthquakes that displace vast populations.

3-Assistance: Providing essential, life-saving support, including shelter, healthcare, water, education and more.

4-Durable Solutions: Offering three principal long-term options: voluntary repatriation, local integration, and resettlement.

5-Global Needs Assessment: Launched in 2009 to identify the real needs of refugees and internally displaced people, estimate the cost of meeting those needs, and highlight the consequences of unmet requirements.

6-Fundraising: As UNHCR is funded almost entirely through voluntary contributions—primarily from donor states—it must continually work to secure the resources required for its operations.


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