Multilateralism Under Attack

What Will Be the Human and Political Cost of Efforts to Dismantle UNRWA?

Philippe Lazzarini
Commissioner-General of UNRWA
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees

In alignment with the current School of Social Science theme seminar, titled “The Politics of Migration and Displacement as a Form of Life,” the School of Social Science will host Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, the UN agency created to provide humanitarian assistance and human development services to Palestine refugees in the Near East. Created in 1949, UNRWA is the oldest international agency working with and for displaced persons, offering assistance to millions of people in five fields of operation.

Before being appointed as the head of UNRWA in 2020, Lazzarini worked for thirty years in humanitarian assistance in conflict and post-conflict areas, including at the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the UN Development Program in South Sudan, Rwanda, Angola, Somalia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Sarajevo. 

The School of Social Science Public Policy Lectures address issues of broad import relevant to contemporary politics, social issues, and scientific matters. The lecture series is curated by the School of Social Science and funded by an anonymous gift.

Previous speakers in the Public Policy Lecture series have included Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Lakhdar Brahimi, UN Special Envoy to Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria; Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch; David Cole, National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union; and Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission. 

This event is at capacity.