<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic to Filippo Grandi just five months before the end of his term as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).</strong></h4> The decision was signed this Tuesday by King Felipe VI at the proposal of Albares and after deliberation by the Council of Ministers that same day, "in consideration of the merits and circumstances of Mr. Filippo Grandi," and was published the following day in the Official State Gazette. Filippo Grandi, born in Milan in 1957, is the eleventh United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He was elected by the UN General Assembly on January 1, 2016, for a five-year term (to replace the current UN Secretary-General, António Guterres) and subsequently re-elected on two further occasions. His term will expire on December 31, 2025. Grandi has worked in the humanitarian and refugee sectors for more than 30 years. From 2010 to 2014, he served as Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). The government awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic to the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, in April 2024. Prior to this position, Grandi served, since 2005, as Deputy Commissioner-General of UNRWA and as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan. She has also collaborated with non-governmental organizations and worked in UNHCR offices in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and at the headquarters in Geneva. The Order of Isabella the Catholic is, hierarchically, the second most important distinction in Spain, after that of Charles III, but is regarded as the first in the field of foreign relations. Instituted by King Ferdinand VII on March 14, 1815, under the name "Royal and American Order of Isabella the Catholic," with the aim of "rewarding unwavering loyalty and merits acquired for the prosperity of those territories." It was reorganized in 1847, when it was renamed simply "Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic" to distinguish—as indicated in its Regulations—those "extraordinary acts of a civil nature, carried out by Spanish and foreign persons, which redound to the benefit of the Nation or which contribute, in a relevant way, to fostering relations of friendship and cooperation between the Spanish Nation and the rest of the International Community." The King serves as Grand Master of the Order, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, as Grand Chancellor, submits proposals to the Council of Ministers for the higher ranks of the Order, which are awarded by Royal Decree. More than 70,000 people worldwide hold this distinction in one of its various ranks.
