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A Conversation with Filippo Grandi
September 19, 2019 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Join a conversation between Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and Susan Stigant (UNC ’05), Director for Africa Programs, US Institute of Peace, to gain a deeper understanding of why there are now more displaced people around the world than ever before.
Filippo Grandi has been engaged in international cooperation for 33 years, primarily with the United Nations. He was born in Milan in 1957 and has been engaged in refugee and humanitarian work for more than 30 years. From 2010 to 2014, he served as Commissioner-General of UNRWA, the UN Agency for Palestine refugees, having previously been its Deputy Commissioner-General since 2005. He also served as Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Afghanistan and has worked with NGOs and UNHCR in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and at Geneva headquarters.
Grandi holds degrees in modern history from the State University in Milan in philosophy from the Gregorian University in Rome, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Coventry.
Grandi is the 11th United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He was elected by the UN General Assembly on 2016 to serve a five-year term.
Susan Stigant received her master’s degree in political science at UNC as a Rotary Peace Fellow. Stigant, a Canadian, is the director of Africa Programs at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) where she oversees programming in South Sudan, Nigeria, Sudan, CAR, DRC, Tanzania and Kenya and with the African Union. Susan’s thematic focus is on the design and implementation of inclusive constitutional reform and national dialogue processes. She has and continues to advise government officials and civil society actors on inclusive processes in Sudan, South Sudan, Libya, Somalia and elsewhere. Susan also serves as co-chair of USIP’s national dialogue working group. Prior to joining USIP, she managed constitutional development, citizen engagement and election observation programs with the National Democratic Institute (NDI). From 2005-2011, she served as program director with NDI in South Sudan, where she supported the implementation of the peace agreement
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