Ghana’s Edem Wosornu appointed to top UN refugee protection role

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Ghanaian humanitarian leader Edem Wosornu as Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at UNHCR. The veteran aid official brings more than two decades of experience in crisis response and humanitarian coordination. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has named Edem Wosornu of Ghana as the new Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

She succeeds Ruvendrini Menikdiwela of Sri Lanka, whose service to refugees was praised by both the Secretary-General and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The appointment places an experienced humanitarian leader in one of the most senior protection roles within the UN system. Wosornu currently serves as Director of the Crisis Response Division at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

She also chairs the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Emergency Directors Group, which coordinates international responses to major humanitarian crises. According to the UN, she brings more than 20 years of experience in humanitarian affairs, with extensive expertise in emergency response, operational management and international coordination. Wosornu’s appointment marks a notable milestone in a career that began at the United Nations as an intern with UNHCR.

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She later held a series of senior positions at OCHA headquarters and in field operations, helping manage responses to humanitarian emergencies around the world. Before joining the UN system, she worked in the private legal sector in the United Kingdom.

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