United Nations Secretary-General Ant贸nio Guterres announced on 06 November 2023 the appointment of Ruvendrini Menikdiwela of Sri Lanka as Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees聽(UNHCR).聽 Ms.聽Menikdiwela will succeed Gillian Triggs of Australia, to whom both the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Refugees are grateful for her dedicated service to the refugee cause.
Ms.聽Menikdiwela, who currently serves as the Director in UNHCR鈥檚 New York Office, brings to the position several decades of professional experience working with and for refugees in UNHCR, including as UNHCR鈥檚 Representative in Pakistan and in Thailand.聽 She also held a number of other critical legal posts during her long career with the Organization, which began in 1988.
An expert in international refugee law, Ms.聽Menikdiwela holds a Ma卯trise en Droit Publique Internationale from Universit茅 de Paris II (Assas), France.聽 She speaks English, French, and Sinhalese.
