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12h ago

Guterres Recommends Barham Salih to Lead UNHCR in Rare Break From Donor Tradition

Record displacement with steep funding shortfalls sets an urgent early test for the prospective appointee.

Iraq's President Barham Salih speaks to members of the media as he casts his vote at a polling station in Baghdad, as Iraqis go to the polls to vote in the parliamentary election, in Iraq, October 10, 2021. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani/ File Photo
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Former president of Iraq, Barham Salih, speaks during the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York, in September 2021. Reuters
Former Iraqi President Salih slated to lead UN refugee agency

Overview

  • A signed Dec. 11 letter to UNHCR Executive Committee chair Atsuyuki Oike names Salih for a five-year term starting Jan. 1, 2026, pending completion of the process.
  • The selection must go through consultations with the Executive Committee before a final decision by the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
  • Salih, 65, is a UK-educated Kurdish Iraqi who served as Iraq’s president from 2018 to 2022 and previously held senior roles in Baghdad and the Kurdistan region.
  • He would succeed Filippo Grandi, whose second term ends Dec. 31, becoming the first non‑Western UNHCR chief since Sadruddin Aga Khan.
  • UNHCR has cut about 5,000 jobs this year and reduced its 2026 budget by nearly a fifth to $8.5 billion as global displacement tops 117 million.