United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has announced the appointment of Ms Edem Wosornu of Ghana as Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a position that carries the rank of Assistant Secretary-General.
Ms Wosornu succeeds Ruvendrini Menikdiwela of Sri Lanka, whom both the Secretary-General and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees commended for her dedicated service to the refugee cause.
Since 2023, Ms Wosornu has served as Director of the Crisis Response Division at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), where she oversees global operations and leads system-wide coordination across major humanitarian emergencies. She is also the current Chair of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Emergency Directors Group (IASC EDG).
She brings more than two decades of experience in humanitarian affairs, with extensive leadership roles in emergency response and operational coordination.
Prior to her current role, she held several senior positions within OCHA, including Chief of the Response Support Branch in Geneva (2021–2023), Head of Office in Nigeria (2018–2020) and Somalia (2014–2015), Chief of the Strategic Planning, Evaluation and Guidance Section in New York (2016–2018), Chief of the Asia-Pacific Section (2015–2016), and Deputy Head of Office in Somalia (2012–2013).
She also served in humanitarian assignments in Darfur, Sudan; Pakistan following the 2004–2005 earthquake; Yemen in 2010; and in legal protection roles with UNHCR in Sudan.
Ms Wosornu began her United Nations career as an intern with UNHCR. Before joining the UN, she worked in the private legal sector in the United Kingdom.
She holds an LL.B from the University of Hull, an LL.M in International Banking and Finance Law from University College London (UCL), and a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Studies from the College of Law, London.
In addition to English and Fante, and some Ewe, Ms Wosornu has a working knowledge of French.
