The United Nations General Assembly has elected former President of Iraq, Barham Ahmed Salih, as the next United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees marking a new chapter for the UN agency at a time of unprecedented global displacement.
Salih was chosen following a competitive selection process in New York that attracted candidates from several countries. He will assume office on 1 January 2026 for a five-year term and will be based in Geneva, succeeding Italy’s Filippo Grandi, whose decade-long tenure ends on 31 December 2025.
Welcoming the decision, Grandi praised his successor’s extensive public service and lived experience.
“Barham Salih brings decades of high-level public service, marked by steady leadership and thoughtful diplomacy. Coming from a country recently marked by conflict, persecution and displacement, he has first-hand experience of the challenges many refugees face today,” Grandi said. “His background and experience make him well suited to lead UNHCR at a time of large-scale displacement and increasingly complex humanitarian and political challenges.”
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres also welcomed the General Assembly’s action, expressing deep gratitude to Grandi for his tireless efforts in protecting refugees, displaced persons and stateless people during his 10 years at the helm of UNHCR.
Under Grandi’s leadership since January 2016, the agency has responded to major displacement crises, including those in Syria, Ukraine and Sudan.
Despite severe humanitarian funding cuts this year, UNHCR continues to operate in 128 countries, with nearly 90 per cent of its more than 14,600 staff working in the field. The agency this month marks 75 years of protecting people forced to flee conflict and persecution.
Salih brings more than three decades of senior political and administrative experience. He served as President of Iraq from 2018 to 2022, previously holding key roles including Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government from 2001–2004; 2009–2012), Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq (2004–2009) and Minister of Planning (2004–2006).
He played a central role in Iraq’s post-2003 reconstruction and economic recovery, including negotiations on the International Compact with Iraq alongside the United Nations and the World Bank.
Beyond government, Salih is currently a Senior Fellow (non-resident) at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School and a Leadership Fellow (still non-resident) at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. He is also the Founder and Chairman of the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS).
An academic by training, Salih holds a PhD in Statistics and Computer Applications in Engineering from the University of Liverpool and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Cardiff University, both in the United Kingdom. In addition to his native Kurdish and Arabic, he is also fluent in English.
His election comes as UNHCR confronts growing humanitarian needs worldwide, with displacement driven by conflict, persecution, climate shocks and political instability; challenges that observers say Salih’s background uniquely positions him to address.
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