Udenrigsudvalget 2010-11 (1. samling)
URU Alm.del Bilag 27
Offentligt
FILIPPO GRANDIUNRWA COMMISSIONER-GENERAL
BIOGRAPHYFilippo Grandiwas appointed Commissioner-Generalof the United Nations Relief and Works Agency forPalestine refugees on 20 January 2010 after havingserved as UNRWA’s Deputy Commissioner-Generalsince October 2005.
Mr. Grandi, an Italian national born in 1957, has beenengaged in refugee and humanitarian work for the past26 years, 22 of which have been with the United Nations.Prior to joining UNRWA, he distinguished himself in avariety of headquarters and field functions encompassingrefugee assistance, protection, emergency management,donor relations and humanitarian and political affairs.From May 2004, Grandi was Deputy Special Representativeof the Secretary-General responsible for political affairsat the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA),where he took responsibility for the electoral process,for the disarmament, demobilisation and integrationprogramme, and for human rights issues, in particular theverification of the exercise of political rights relating topresidential and parliamentary elections.Prior to that, Grandi was Chief of Mission of the UnitedNations High Commissioner for Refugees in Afghanistan,a position he held for almost three years. From 1997 to2001, he served in the Executive Office of UNHCR inGeneva, as Special Assistant of the High Commissionerand then Chief of Staff.Grandi joined UNHCR in 1988. For three years he workedin refugee programmes in Sudan, and was then involvedin the humanitarian emergency response in Syria, Turkeyand Iraq during and after the first Gulf War. Subsequently,
as an Emergency Officer, he led emergency operations inKenya, Benin, Ghana, Liberia, the Great Lakes of CentralAfrica (including the Burundi refugee crisis in 1993 andthe Goma operation in the summer of 1994), Yemen andAfghanistan, among others. After a two-year headquartersassignment dealing with some of UNHCR’s main donors,especially the European Commission, Grandi wasField Coordinator for UN humanitarian activities in theDemocratic Republic of Congo during its 1996 – 1997civil war.His early experience prior to joining the UN includedwork with non-governmental organisations carrying outrefugee programmes in Thailand and Italy.Grandi graduated from the State University of Milanwith a degree in modern history and from the GregorianUniversity in Rome with a BA in philosophy.In his inaugural letter to UNRWA staff, Grandi observedthat “...the post of Commissioner-General is not a personalhonour bestowed on one individual, but a mission to becarried out with and for Palestine refugees”. He paidtribute to the uniquely concrete and tangible characterof UNRWA’s mission, noting that this is “what makes usrelevant, allowing our work to make a real difference tothe lives of those who continue, after six decades, to bewronged by injustice.”
About UNRWAUNRWA provides assistance, protection and advocacy for some 4.7 million registered Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the occupied Palestinianterritory, pending a solution to their plight. The Agency’s services encompass education, health care, social safety-net, camp infrastructure and improvement,community support, microfinance and emergency response, including in times of armed conflict. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by contributions. TheAgency’s core budget for 2010-2011 stands at $1.23 billion. In 2009, emergency appeals for the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon amounted to $827.4 million.
