Barham Salih

Mr. Barham Salih became the 12th United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees on 1 January
2026.
As High Commissioner, he heads one of the
world’s largest humanitarian organizations.
UNHCR has twice won the Nobel Peace Prize. Its
14,500-strong workforce spans 128 countries
providing protection and assistance to over 117
million refugees, returnees, internally displaced
people as well as stateless people. Some 80 per
cent of UNHCR staff work in operational settings,
often in difficult and dangerous duty stations. The
organization’s needs-based budget for 2025 is US$
8.5 billion.
Before being elected High Commissioner, Mr. Salih served as President of Iraq
(2018–2022). His career spans more than three decades of governmental service in
Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. He 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).
Mr. Salih has also 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), Mr.
Salih 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.
Mr. Salih was born in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, in 1960. In addition to his native Kurdish
and Arabic, he is fluent in English.