Menikdiwela will succeed Gillian Triggs of Australia, to whom both the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Refugees are grateful for her dedicated service to the refugee cause.

Menikdiwela, who currently serves as the Director in UNHCR’s New York Office, brings to the position several decades of professional experience working with and for refugees in UNHCR, including as UNHCR’s Representative in Pakistan and in Thailand. She also held a number of other critical legal posts during her long career with the organisation, which began in 1988.

An expert in international refugee law, Menikdiwela holds a Maitrise en Droit Publique Internationale from Université de Paris II (Assas), France. She speaks English, French, and Sinhalese.