UNITED NATIONS (AP) 鈥� The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday approved former Iraqi President as the next head of the U.N. refugee agency, its first from the Middle East since the late 1970s.
The 193-member world body elected the 65-year-old Kurdish politician as the U.N. high commissioner for refugees by consensus and a bang of the gavel by Assembly President Annalena Baerbock. Diplomats in the assembly chamber burst into applause as Salih鈥檚 election became official.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, a former refugee chief who recommended Salih for the post, said he brings 鈥渟enior diplomatic, political and administrative leadership experience鈥� to the job, including as 鈥渁 refugee, crisis negotiator and architect of national reforms.鈥�
At the age of 19 in 1979, Salih was reportedly arrested twice by Saddam Hussein鈥檚 Baath Party on charges of involvement in the Kurdish national movement and spent 43 days in detention. When he was released, he finished high school and fled to the United Kingdom to avoid further persecution.
After Saddam was ousted by a U.S.-led coalition in 2003, Salih returned to Iraq and held various posts in the government. He became in 2018, in the immediate aftermath of the Islamic State group鈥檚 rampage across Iraq and the battle to take back the territory seized by the extremist group. He served until 2022.
Salih succeeds longtime agency veteran Filippo Grandi, whose second five-year term expires Dec. 31. Salih’s five-year term starts Jan. 1.
Salih will take the reins of the Geneva-based UNHCR at the end of a for many U.N. organizations, including the refugee agency. The U.N. has cut spending and thousands of jobs in the wake of sharply by the United States 鈥� traditionally its top donor 鈥� and other Western countries.
In a statement after his election, Salih said his experience as a refugee 鈥渨ill inform a leadership approach grounded in empathy, pragmatism, and a principled commitment to international law.鈥�
With record displacement and severe funding shortages for humanitarian operations, he said, helping the world鈥檚 refugees requires 鈥渁 renewed focus on impact, accountability and efficiency.鈥�
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
