UNHCR Senior Executive Team in Lebanon

@IFreijsen

Ivo Freijsen is the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative in Lebanon. He previously served as the UNHCR Representative in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Ivo brings with him over 30 years of experience in the humanitarian field at the country, regional and HQ levels, including with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), CARE International, the Directorate-General for the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), working across a wide range of situations, including Rwanda, Sudan, Eritrea, Iraq, Egypt and Syria.

Ivo Freijsen holds a Master’s degree in Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies, and a graduate diploma in International Relations. He speaks Dutch, Arabic, English and French.

Tracey Maulfair has joined the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Lebanon as Deputy Representative (Protection) on 1 July 2021. 

She has worked for UNHCR since 2001 in various field Operations and at Headquarters. Her latest assignments in UNHCR include Senior Policy and Guidance Coordinator in Geneva, Senior Policy Advisor, Development and Solutions in New York, and Assistant Representative (Protection) in Pakistan. 

Tracey holds a BA with distinction and honors in Political Science with Spanish and Women’s Studies Minors; and a Juris Doctorate from New York University Law School. 

Francis Teoh is the Head of Field Office in Tyre since August 2020.

He joined UNHCR as a Field Officer in Saudi Arabia 1992-95 in the aftermath of the 1^st Gulf War. He then moved on to the next crises in the Balkans as Resettlement Officer in Serbia 1995-98 and Head of FO in Kosovo 1998-2000. He also served inTurkey as Senior Durable Solutions Officer 2001-05; Senior Protection Officer in Bangladesh 2006-08; Senior Regional Protection Officer in Indonesia and China 2008-15.  From 2016, he assumed the role of Representative in China before joining the Afghanistan operation in 2018 as Sr. Operations Manager prior to his arrival in Lebanon.

Francis has also led three emergency deployments as the Team Leader at the Turkish/Iraqi border, Darfur and in Aceh during the Asian Tsunami response. With a career spanning some 27 years, he brings to the team a rich UNHCR experience having worked in various operations in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Marguerite Nowak joined UNHCR Lebanon in January 2022 first as Senior Field Coordinator (Zahle) and in January 2024 as Head of Sub-Office Zahle.

She has worked for the United Nations since 2011 in South Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. Prior to working with the UN, Marguerite worked on food security, poverty, and anti-hunger issues.

Marguerite has a background in field operations, emergency response, cluster coordination, and external relations. She holds a Masters in International Development & Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a Masters in International Human Rights Law from Oxford University.

Frederic Cussigh joined the UNHCR operation in Lebanon on the 1^st of January 2022 as Head of Sub-Office for Beirut and Mount-Lebanon.

He is an engineer in town planning and has more than 20 years experience with UNHCR, working across Africa, Asia, Middle East and Europe.

He served as Head of Office in Chad, South Sudan, DRC, Lebanon, and Iraq. He also worked as Registration Officer in Sudan, or IM/GIS Officer in Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, and Burundi.

Frederic also has extensive experience in emergency operations working to respond to refugees’ influx, IDPs crisis, natural disasters and repatriation and worked in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Côte d’Ivoire, Iraq, Liberia, Armenia, Syria, South Sudan, Lebanon, DRC to mention a few.

Prior to joining UNHCR, Frederic worked with NGOs in development (Cambodia) and mine action (Chad).