Bruno Geddo will soon fly to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, where he will meet with local authorities and partners in Erbil. He will also take the opportunity to visit internally displaced Iraqis and Syrian refugee families in camps and urban locations in Duhok, Sulaymaniyah and Kirkuk. Thereafter, Mr Geddo will visit internally displaced Iraqis in Basrah.

The new Representative comes with over 25 years of experience with UNHCR, having previously worked in Sudan, Tanzania, South Africa and Headquarters and served as the UNHCR Representative in the Central African Republic, Somalia, Yemen and Mauritania. 

Concerning his new appointment, Bruno Geddo remains hopeful despite the many challenges Iraq is facing. “I feel passionately about Iraq. While conflict shows no sign of abating and the scale of human suffering is immense, I look forward to working with the authorities, UN agencies, NGO partners, Iraqi civil society and donors, to ensure that those escaping violence and human rights abuses can find safety and protection, and ultimately alleviate human suffering and help those who have been forcibly displaced by conflict return to a normal life”, he said. 

Iraq hosts close to 250,000 Syrian refugees, with the vast majority residing in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.  More than 3 million Iraqis have been internally displaced since the start of 2014, while some 1 million were uprooted in previous waves of conflict in the past decade. 

For more information, please contact:

Bathoul Ahmed, UNHCR Public Information: + 964 771 994 5332

Natalia Micevic, UNHCR Reporting: + 964 780 919 3947