Eduardo González
The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has congratulated former Iraqi President Barham Salih on his appointment as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
“He has our support in his work to protect refugees worldwide,” the Ministry stated via social media. “Spain is committed to multilateralism and human rights,” it concluded.
Barham Salih was elected this Thursday, December 18, at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, following a selection process involving candidates from several countries. He will serve a five-year term, beginning January 1, from Geneva.
Salih was President of Iraq between 2018 and 2022. During his term, he received King Felipe VI on January 30, 2019, during the Monarch’s official visit to Baghdad, and the then Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, during a regional tour in April 2021.
Barham Salih also served as Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government on two occasions (2001–2004 and 2009–2012), Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq between 2004 and 2009, and concurrently, Minister of Planning between 2004 and 2006.
According to the office of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Salih “played a central role in the reconstruction and economic recovery of Iraq after 2003.” “With a career spanning more than three decades of government service in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, Mr. Salih brings a high level of diplomatic, political, and administrative experience,” he added.
Barham Salih will succeed Italian Filippo Grandi, who welcomed his appointment. “Coming from a country marked by recent conflict, persecution, and displacement, he has firsthand experience of the challenges many refugees face today,” he said in a statement. “His background and experience make him ideally suited to lead UNHCR at a time of large-scale displacement and increasingly complex humanitarian and political challenges,” Grandi added.
Filippo Grandi, who was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic by Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares on December 1, has served two terms as head of UNHCR, from January 1, 2016, until December 31 of this year. In its ten years, UNHCR has dealt with serious displacement crises around the world, including those in Syria, Ukraine, and Sudan.
Despite deep cuts in humanitarian funding this year, UNHCR remains present in 128 countries, with nearly 90 percent of its more than 14,600 staff members working on the ground. This month, UNHCR celebrates its 75th anniversary.
