A Lifetime with the
United Nations Tarik Kurdi

Journey

A career across the world

More than fifteen countries. Four world regions. Some of the most complex humanitarian emergencies of the modern era.

Places of Service

Four regions, one vocation

The countries below are those named in the manuscript as places of service — grouped by region.

Africa

Field and deep-field service across the continent, from the Horn of Africa to the Great Lakes and West Africa.

  • Sudan
  • Somalia
  • Kenya
  • Zaire (now DRC)
  • Sierra Leone
  • Uganda
  • Ghana
  • Zimbabwe

Middle East

Assignments across some of the region’s gravest displacement crises and post-conflict recovery operations.

  • Iraq (twice)
  • Jordan
  • Syria

Asia & the Pacific

Protracted refugee situations and large-scale emergencies within the Asia and the Pacific Bureau.

  • Afghanistan
  • Pakistan

Europe — Geneva

Headquarters assignments across several Departments and Regional Bureaux, and the chairing of a Human Rights Council forum.

  • Geneva, Switzerland

The Arc of a Career

From the field to reflection

  1. The Deep Field

    Service began where the need was greatest — in conflict, crisis and fragile settings, delivering protection and life-saving assistance far from headquarters.

  2. Across the Regions

    Long-term missions and assignments carried the author across most continents, from the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes to West Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

  3. Regional Bureaux

    Headquarters assignments across the Asia and the Pacific, Africa and MENA bureaux, and the Division of Human Resources Management — the institutional heart of the system.

  4. Multilateral Diplomacy

    Chairing the 10th Session of the Forum on Minority Issues under the Human Rights Council — dialogue among States, civil society and international organisations.

  5. Geneva & Reflection

    From Geneva, a career spanning field and headquarters becomes a considered reflection on the Organization’s achievements, limitations and future.

Major Humanitarian Operations

Where the work was done

A selection of the operations documented in the book, in which the author was personally involved at various levels and in different capacities.

United Nations field mission team moving through a conflict-affected area
Displaced families returning home along a UN-assisted corridor
Children walking to school with United Nations-supplied bags
A humanitarian worker carrying a child amid displacement
A convoy of food-assistance trucks on the road
Families and vehicles moving through a war-damaged city

Afghanistan

Asia

One of the world’s most protracted crises. Since 2002, UNHCR assisted more than 5.3 million Afghan refugees to return, while supporting internally displaced people through shelter, protection and reintegration.

Pakistan

Asia

One of the longest-running refugee responses in the world — sustained protection for Afghan refugees over four decades, and large-scale relief during the 2010 and 2022 floods.

Iraq

Middle East

Through successive crises, one of the largest multi-year shelter and community-rehabilitation programmes — repairing homes, schools and services, and supporting durable solutions for the displaced.

Syria

Middle East

Among the largest and most complex operations in UNHCR’s history. Sustained humanitarian negotiations secured cross-front-line access to besieged areas, delivering life-saving assistance to millions.

Sudan

Africa

From the pioneering Operation Lifeline Sudan of 1989 to today’s largest displacement crisis — protection and assistance under extraordinarily challenging conditions across most of the country.

Somalia

Africa

Decades of conflict, drought and famine risk. United Nations operations played a decisive role in preventing large-scale loss of life and shifting towards preventive action.

Ethiopia

Africa

Humanitarian needs driven by conflict, displacement and climate shocks. Coordinated operations helped avert famine and restore basic services to millions.

The book draws on first-hand experience of these operations and many others across the wider system.

Read it in the author’s words

Selected passages from the manuscript — on the field, on diplomacy, and on the case for reform.

Read the excerpts