UNHCR Representative in Afghanistan

Arafat has served with UNHCR both at headquarters and in the field for over three decades. Before his assignment to Afghanistan, he was UNHCR’s Coordinator for the 2023 Global Refugee Forum (GRF), the flagship multilateral global event for refugees, which raised over USD 2.2 billion for refugees and their hosts.

Prior to this, he was UNHCR’s Representative in South Sudan (2020-2022) and Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator (ai) (2021). During this posting, he inaugurated the Pockets of Hope initiative for returning South Sudanese, and oversaw emergency and anticipatory actions to mitigate the effects of severe climate crises.

Between 2014 and 2020, Arafat was Head of the Partnerships and Coordination Service at UNHCR’s Headquarters. From 2012 to 2014, he headed the secretariat of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, working under the Emergency Relief Coordinator to ensure tight collaboration amongst humanitarian entities.

Other posts have included serving with UNHCR in Jordan as Deputy Representative and Acting Representative (2008-2011), Emergency Team Leader Libya (2011), Head of the Regional Resettlement Hub for the Middle East and North Africa (Beirut, 2005-2008), and various policy and Executive Office positions at UNHCR Headquarters.  His first field posting was in Herat, Afghanistan.

Arafat was educated at the University of Oxford (UK) (Masters in Forced Migration), Cornell University (UK) (BA History, and BSc Urban and Regional Studies) and Ecolint (Switzerland) (IB).  He is fluent in English and French.