Raouf Mazou took up his appointment as UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Operations on 1 February 2020, bringing over 30 years of experience with the organization. Mazou previously served as Director of UNHCR’s Africa Bureau in 2019 and as UNHCR Representative in Kenya for over five years. In the four years immediately preceding this assignment, he was a Deputy Director in the Africa Bureau, covering the East and Horn of Africa. Other senior positions he has held at UNHCR include Deputy Director of the Division of Operations Support and Head of the Emergency and Security Service, a role in which he oversaw the organization’s global emergency management and staff security interests.