OUR CHAMPIONS

Amy Pope

IOM

Amy Pope became Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on 1 October 2023, bringing a wealth of experience in addressing complex migration issues and passion for changing the global narrative about people on the move. She is the first woman to hold the post in IOM’s 73-year history.

In the early part of her five-year term, Ms. Pope put the organization on a new strategic path designed to ensure that IOM can respond to an increasingly complex migration landscape. The new direction enables IOM to help save and protect people on the move today, but also to be proactive about challenges before they become crises.

Building on reforms she began implementing as IOM’s Deputy Director General for Management and Reform, Ms. Pope has also led organizational changes that focus IOM’s structure and resources toward the work its teams do in the field.

Before joining IOM, DG Pope served as the Senior Advisor on Migration to US President Biden and served as the Deputy Homeland Security Advisor to President Obama. While at the White House, Ms. Pope developed and implemented comprehensive strategies to address migration in areas such as countering trafficking in persons, resettling refugees, and vulnerable people, and preparing communities to respond and adapt to climate-related crises.  

Ms. Pope has also occupied positions at the US Department of Justice and US Senate and was a Partner in the London-based law firm, Schillings. She graduated magna cum laude from the Duke University School of Law with a Juris Doctor and has a BA in Political Science (with Honors) from Haverford College in Pennsylvania. Ms. Pope is married, with two daughters.

Alexander De Croo

UNDP

Alexander De Croo is the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. He started his official duties on 2 December 2025.

Mr. De Croo served as Prime Minister of Belgium from 2020 to 2025. His tenure included crisis management during the COVID-19 pandemic, the coordination of Belgium’s vaccination rollout and economic recovery strategies, and Belgium's presidency of the Council of the European Union during a period of considerable geopolitical strain.

Before becoming Prime Minister, Mr. De Croo served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2012 to 2020, as Minister of Development Cooperation and Digital Agenda from 2014 to 2020 and as Minister of Finance from 2018 to 2020. A steadfast advocate for strong international cooperation, he played a leading role in advancing international development, championed gender equality and digital innovation as drivers of progress, and actively supported humanitarian relief efforts in times of crisis. 

Before entering public life, Mr. De Croo worked in the private sector as an entrepreneur and strategy advisor. His background as an entrepreneur shaped his focus on results, his pragmatic approach, and his openness to digital innovation.

Mr. De Croo holds a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago and a degree in business engineering from the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management. He is fluent in English, French, and Dutch. 

Barham Salih

UNHCR

Barham Salih is the 12th United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He was elected by the UN General Assembly on 18 December 2025, for a term of five years, and assumed office on 1 January 2026.

Before being elected High Commissioner, Salih served as President of Iraq (2018–2022). He also served twice as Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (2001–2004; 2009–2012) and as Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq (2004–2009), concurrently serving as Minister of Planning (2004–2006).

With a career spanning more than three decades of governmental service in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, Salih brings senior diplomatic, political and administrative leadership experience, including engagement with international and regional institutions, with human rights and humanitarian vision and experience, including as refugee, crisis negotiator and architect of national reforms.

He served as a Senior Fellow (non-resident) at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School, United States and as Leadership Fellow (non-resident) at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C, United States.

Founder and Chairman of the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS), he holds a PhD in Statistics and Computer Applications in Engineering from the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom and a BSc in Civil Engineering from Cardiff University, United Kingdom.

Barham Salih was born in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, in 1960. In addition to his native Kurdish and Arabic, he is fluent in English.

Tom Fletcher

OCHA

Tom Fletcher is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, OCHA. He started his official duties on 18 November 2024.

Prior to taking up this role, Fletcher was the Principal of Hertford College at Oxford (2020-2024) and Vice Chair of Oxford University’s Conference of Colleges (2022-2024). He was British Ambassador to Lebanon (2011-2015) and No 10 Foreign Policy Adviser to three UK Prime Ministers (2007-11).

Fletcher previously served as Global Strategy Director of the Global Business Coalition for Education (2015-2019) and as chair of the UK Creative Industries Federation (2015-2020). He was awarded a CMG in 2011.

Fletcher has worked closely with the United Nations during his diplomatic career in Africa, the Middle East and Europe, including leading a report on technology for the UN Secretary General (2017). He is the author of 'The Naked Diplomat' (2016), 'Ten Survival Skills for a World in Flux' (2022), and two novels, 'The Ambassador' (2022) and 'The Assassin' (2024). He has written for the Financial Times, Prospect, Foreign Policy Magazine, and presented a BBC series on democracy.

Fletcher holds a Master of Arts degree in Modern History (Oxford, 1998). He was Visiting Professor at New York University (2015-2020) and the Emirates Diplomatic Academy (2016-2019). He is fluent in English and French and has a good working knowledge of Arabic and Swahili.

Paula Gaviria Betancur

OHCHR

Ms. Paula Gaviria Betancur (Colombia) was appointed Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons by the Human Rights Council in September 2022 and assumed the mandate on 1 November 2022.

Paula Gaviria Betancur is a human rights lawyer and a forced displacement expert. She currently serves as executive director of Compaz, a non-profit founded by Nobel Laureate Juan Manuel Santos. With over two decades of experience in human rights and humanitarian affairs, she was a member of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement, which worked from 2019 to 2021 to identify concrete recommendations on how to better prevent, respond and achieve solutions to the global internal displacement crisis. She has been an advocate for durable solutions to internal displacement and particularly for the role of the private sector in breaking the displacement cycle. Ms. Gaviria has over two decades of experience promoting human rights from civil society, the judicial sector, academia, and government. She was the President of Colombia’s Human Rights Advisor (2016-2018). Her role was key in ensuring the victims’ participation in the negotiations. Before that, she supported the preparation and implementation of the country’s 2011 Victims’ Law and directed its Victims Unit (2012-2016), overseeing the development of the Victims Registry. In 2016, she received the World Bank José Edgardo Campos Collaborative Leadership Award. Previously she acted as Director of Human Rights Promotion at the Ombudsman Office of Colombia (2000-2004).

Elizabeth Spehar

DPPA

Ms. Elizabeth Spehar of Canada is the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding and Peace Support, in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations (DPPA-DPO). With more than 35 years of experience in international and political affairs, Ms. Spehar has worked in United Nations Headquarters and in the field, leading political, development, peacebuilding and conflict prevention initiatives. Most recently, since 2016, she was the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), also serving as Deputy to the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus.

Previously, Ms. Spehar was Director of the Policy and Mediation Division in the former Department of Political Affairs, now DPPA, where she worked on policy and operational matters related to conflict prevention, mediation, peacebuilding and gender mainstreaming. Prior to this, she was the Director for the Americas and Europe Division and Director of the Europe Division in the Department of Political Affairs, engaging extensively on key political issues facing the region. She also served briefly as Interim Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNFICYP in 2008.

Before joining the United Nations, Ms. Spehar was a senior official with the Organization of American States (OAS) for more than 12 years, working to promote democracy and develop the organization’s dialogue and conflict resolution instruments.

Ms. Spehar holds a Bachelor of Arts with honours from Queen’s University in Canada, a master’s degree in international affairs from Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, also in Canada, and a Diplôme d’Etudes Supérieures from the University of Pau in France. She speaks English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Croatian.

Born in Port Arthur, Canada, she has a daughter.

Ugochi Daniels

IOM

Ms. Ugochi Daniels was appointed as IOM’s Deputy Director General for Operations, taking office on September 1, 2021. Prior to joining IOM, Ugochi Daniels was the Chief of Staff at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), covering Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and the West Bank. She was also the United Nations Resident Coordinator and Designated Official for Security in the Islamic Republic of Iran from 2018 to 2020. From 2013 to 2018, Ugochi Daniels was the Chief of the Humanitarian and Fragile Contexts Branch at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Headquarters, covering over seventy countries where UNFPA was responding to emergencies. Her stint at UNFPA includes assignments in the Philippines (Country Representative, 2010–2013) and Nepal (Deputy Representative, 2007–2010). 

Ms. Daniels joined the UNFPA in 2002 as the Deputy Program Manager for Africa Youth Alliance (2002–2007), covering Ghana, Tanzania, Botswana, and Uganda. Prior to joining the UN, Ms. Daniels was the Monitoring and Evaluation Information Specialist of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission in Nigeria from 1999 to 2002. Ms. Daniels also has private sector experience, having worked in the information technology, manufacturing, and financial services industries from 1992 to 1999.  

Ms. Daniels is recognized as a UN (S)hero for her advocacy of women's health in humanitarian emergencies and her commitment to protecting human rights and promoting peace. She is dedicated to solving global problems through peace and development partnerships and emphasizes justice, equality, and community engagement. She holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Geography, a Post-graduate Diploma in Information Management for Business Decisions and is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer.

Shoko Noda

UNDP

Ms. Shoko Noda began her role as UNDP’s Assistant Administrator and Director of the Crisis Bureau on 13 November 2023.  In this role, Ms Noda leads the delivery of UNDP’s Crisis Offer, which supports countries to anticipate, prevent, respond to and recover from crisis, every day, and in every development context. 

Throughout her 25-year UN career, Ms Noda has gained extensive experience working in crisis and post-conflict settings. Starting out as a Junior Professional Officer in Tajikistan and Kosovo in 1998, Ms Noda went on to become Assistant Resident Representative in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, where she led the Crisis Prevention and Recovery Cluster in 2001 - 2002; and Chef de Cabinet to the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, advising the DSRSG on development and humanitarian matters in 2005.  

Ms Noda has also served as Early Recovery Coordination Advisor to the UN Resident Coordinator in Pakistan after the devastating disaster in 2005; Programme Specialist to the UNDP Administrator in New York; and UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Mongolia, where she led the Early Recovery Programme and managed the response to a humanitarian crisis caused by extreme winter weather.  

During her tenure as UNDP Country Director in Nepal, she worked to improve the office’s capacity for post disaster operations, and as UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in the Maldives, she coordinated UN response to a political crisis in cooperation with DPPA and OHCHR while also acting as the UN’s Designated Official. 

Immediately prior to joining the Crisis Bureau, Ms Noda served as Resident Representative for the UNDP India Country Office. She was at the helm through the COVID-19 crisis, supporting and inspiring her team to adapt existing programmes to respond to emerging needs, and ensure that UNDP continued to deliver during the crisis. She also led UNDP’s engagement with India’s G20 Presidency at the country level. The Country Office also received official recognition for its efforts to improve gender equality across all of its work under her leadership.  

Ms. Noda holds a bachelor’s degree and a Master of Arts in Political Science from Keio University, Japan. She started her professional career as Researcher in the Behavioural Sciences Department, Mitsubishi Research Institute Inc. in Tokyo. 

Antón Leis García

UNHCR

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Antón Leis García of Spain as Assistant High Commissioner for Operations, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Mr. Leis García will succeed Raouf Mazou of the Republic of Congo, to whom both the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Refugees are grateful for his dedicated service to the refugee cause.  

Mr. Leis García currently serves as Director of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), Spain’s development and humanitarian agency. He brings to the position extensive experience in international cooperation and multilateral affairs, with a strong focus on development, governance and partnerships. Prior to his current role, he held several senior positions at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the General Secretariat for International Affairs, the European Union (EU), the G20 and the Global Security of the Office of the President of the Spanish Government, as well as international financial institutions such as the African Development Bank and the World Bank Group.

Mr. Leis García holds a master’s degree in law from Harvard Law School, United States of America and a double master’s degree in public administration from the London School of Economics, and Sciences Po Paris, France. In addition to his native Spanish, he speaks English, French and Portuguese.