Volker Türk in Helsinki - 2022 (52573271488) (cropped)

Volker Türk (born 1965) is an Austrian lawyer and United Nations official. He has been the

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nati ...

since 17 October 2022.

Education

Born in

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

, Türk received a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

from the

University of Linz The Johannes Kepler University Linz (German: ''Johannes Kepler Universität Linz'', short: ''JKU'') is a public institution of higher education in Austria. It is located in Linz, the capital of Upper Austria. It offers bachelor's, master's, d ...

and a doctorate in

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

from the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

, Austria. His doctoral dissertation at the

was on the office of the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

and its mandate and was published by Duncker & Humblot, Berlin in 1992.

Career

In 1991, Türk became a Junior Professional Officer at the UN and had a temporary assignment in Kuwait funded by the Austrian Foreign Ministry. He then held various posts with the

(UNHCR) in different regions of the world, including Malaysia, Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He later became the Director of the Division of International Legal Protection at UNHCR headquarters in Geneva. In February 2015, he was appointed Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, making him the highest-ranking Austrian UN official. On 18 April 2019, Türk was appointed by

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres ( , ; born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Socia ...

to succeed Fabrizio Hochschild Drummond as Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Coordination in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General at the UN Secretariat. From 2021 to 2022, Türk served as Under-Secretary-General for Policy in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2022–present

On 8 September 2022, following the favourable vote of the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

, Türk was selected to succeed Michelle Bachelet of Chile as

; at the time, the other candidates included Federico Villegas and

Adama Dieng Adama Dieng (born 22 May 1950, Senegal) is a former UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and former board member of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and a former registrar of the International Criminal ...

. He assumed office on 17 October 2022.

Personal life

Türk lives in Geneva.

Awards

In May 2016, Türk was awarded the Human Rights Award of the University of Graz.

Publications

* Erika Feller, Volker Türk, Frances Nicholson (eds.): ''Refugee Protection in International Law''. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003, ISBN 0-521-53281-7.

References

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Austrian diplomats 1965 births Austrian lawyers Living people {{DEFAULTSORT:Türk, Volker de:Volker Türk