United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced on 9 October 2024 the appointment of Tom Fletcher of the United Kingdom as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. He succeeds Martin Griffiths of the United Kingdom, to whom the Secretary-General is deeply grateful for his outstanding work, dedicated service and long-standing commitment to the Organization.
The Secretary-General also wishes to extend his appreciation to Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator who will continue to serve as Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator until Mr. Fletcher assumes his position.
Mr. Fletcher, who is currently the Principal of Hertford College, Oxford (since 2020) and Vice-Chair of Oxford University’s Conference of Colleges (since 2022), has strong experience of leading and transforming organizations and bringing an understanding of diplomacy at the highest levels. He previously served as Global Strategy Director, Global Business Coalition for Education (2015-2019) and led work for former Prime Minister Gordon Brown on refugee education. He also served as United Kingdom’s Ambassador to Lebanon (2011-2015), as Foreign and Development Policy Adviser to three United Kingdom Prime Ministers (2007-2011), and as the Prime Ministers’ mediator on Northern Ireland.
An internationally recognized communicator, through his books and media work across the fields of development, diplomacy, technology and democracy, with a blend of technocratic expertise and public diplomacy, Mr. Fletcher has worked closely with the United Nations during his diplomatic career in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. He served as Head, Middle East Peace Process, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London (1997-1998), as Second Secretary, Nairobi, Kenya (1998-2002), Chief of Staff for Africa, Caribbean and Commonwealth, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London (2002-2004) and First Secretary, Paris, France (2004-2007).
Mr. Fletcher holds a Master of Arts degree in modern history (Oxford, 1998) and a Bachelor of Arts in modern history (Oxford, 1997). He served as Visiting Professor at New York University (2015-2020) and Emirates Diplomatic Academy (2016-2019). He is fluent in English and French and has a good working knowledge of Arabic and Swahili.
