Philippe Lazzarini | |
|---|---|
 Lazzarini in September 2025 | |
| Commissioner-General of UNRWA | |
| Assumed office 18 March 2020 | |
| Secretary-General | António Guterres |
| Preceded by | Pierre Krähenbühl |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1964 (age 61–62) Neuchâtel, Switzerland |
| Spouse | Antonia Mulvey |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | University of Neuchâtel (BA) University of Lausanne (MBA) |
| Occupation | Humanitarian |
Philippe Lazzarini (French:[filiplazaʁini],Italian:[fiˈlipladdzaˈriːni]; born 1964) is a Swiss humanitarian who has been serving as Commissioner-General of theUnited Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) since 2020.[1]
Born inNeuchâtel to Italian immigrants,[2] Lazzarini holds aMasters in Business Administration from theFaculty of Business and Economics of the University of Lausanne and a Bachelor's degree in economics from theUniversity of Neuchâtel.
Lazzarini started his international career in 1989 when he joined theInternational Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and served as delegate in multiple duty stations, including southern Sudan, Lebanon, Jordan, and theGaza Strip. Lazzarini then led the ICRC operations in Bosnia, Angola, and Rwanda. He served as Deputy Head of the ICRC Communications Department. In September 1999, Lazzarini joined theUnion Bancaire Privée bank inGeneva as head of the Marketing Department where he worked on corporate social responsibility and the bank's ethical investment agenda.
In 2003, Lazzarini joined theUN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) as Area Coordinator inMosul, Iraq. He then served as Head of Office for OCHA in Angola, Somalia, and theoccupied Palestinian territory. In 2010, he became the Deputy Director of the Coordination and Response Division for OCHA in its headquarters in New York City. In 2013, he was appointed,[3] under the leadership ofNicholas Kay, as the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Representative of theUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Somalia. On 24 April 2015,United Nations Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon announced[4] the Lazzarini's appointment as his Deputy Special Coordinator for Lebanon, where he also served as Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, succeedingRoss Mountain; in this capacity, he worked under the leadership of successive Special CoordinatorsSigrid Kaag (2015-2017), Pernille Dahler Kardel (2017–2019) andJán Kubiš (2019–2020).
In 2020, UN Secretary-GeneralAntónio Guterres announced Lazzarini's appointment as the new Commissioner-General of theUnited Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).[5]
In 2023, Lazzarini criticized theIsraeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.[6][7] He described theGaza Strip as a "graveyard of a population trapped between war, siege and deprivation", saying that "we will not be able to say we did not know. History will ask why the world did not have the courage to act decisively and stop this hell on Earth."[8] On 9 February 2024, Lazzarini said that Israel blocked food for 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza.[9]
Since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, Lazzarini sent two letters to the United Nations General Assembly President on 7 December 2023[10] and 22 February 2024.[11] He briefed theUN Security Council on the "unprecedented humanitarian crisis" in the Gaza Strip and "attacks against UNRWA" on 30 October 2023[12] and 17 April 2024.[13] On 4 March 2024, he addressed theUN General Assembly.[14]
UNRWA, Lazzarini and other top UNRWA officials are co-defendants in a high-profile lawsuit by theOctober 7 attack victims alleging that "the defendants are liable for aiding and abetting Hamas' genocide, crimes against humanity, and torture."[15][16]
Lazzarini is married to British lawyer Antonia Mulvey, executive director of Legal Action Worldwide (LAW), and has four children born between 2009 and 2018.[17]
Media related toPhilippe Lazzarini at Wikimedia Commons
