24 May 2005

UNHCR WELCOMES NOMINATION OF NEW HIGH COMMISSIONER

Diederik Kramers, UNHCR Brussels:

GENEVA - On behalf of the staff of UNHCR, Acting U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees Wendy Chamberlin on Tuesday welcomed the announcement in New York
of the nomination of former Portuguese Prime Minister António Guterres as
the UN refugee agency's 10th High Commissioner.

Mr. Guterres' nomination was announced at United Nations headquarters by a
spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
"Former Prime Minister Guterres is a highly respected international
statesman with a wealth of experience that will be of enormous benefit to
the world's 17 million refugees and others of concern," Ms. Chamberlin said.
"We look forward to carrying on UNHCR's global work under his able
leadership."

Mr. Guterres, who was Prime Minister of Portugal from 1996-2002, succeeds
former High Commisssioner Ruud Lubbers.
UNHCR's 6,000 staff work in 115 countries worldwide, many of them in remote
and difficult duty stations. The refugee agency, which has won two Nobel
Peace Prizes, was established by the UN General Assembly in 1950 and has
helped more than 50 million people over the past five decades.