Visiting Fellow Arafat Jamal

Arafat Jamal is a senior United Nations diplomat with over twenty years of international experience focused on leading in emergencies, managing operations, coordinating amongst agencies, resettling refugees, conducting humanitarian diplomacy, and formulating and evaluating policy. He currently works at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, where he heads its Inter-Agency Coordination Service, which focuses on fostering inclusive and optimized collaboration in order to meet refugee needs as efficiently as possible. Jamal also has an extensive background in managing displacement emergencies (Syrians in Jordan 2011-12, Libya 2011, Lebanon 2006, Sierra Leoneans in Guinea 1999, Western Afghanistan 1998-99, Rwandans in Zaire 1998), policy formulation, evaluation and refugee resettlement. He has authored several papers focusing on topics including minimum standards and essential needs, the practical meaning of refugee protection, and the political and strategic implications of resettlement. He holds a master’s in forced migration from the University of Oxford, a BA in history, and a BSc in urban and regional studies from Cornell University.