UNHCR Representative in Ukraine

UNHCR Representative in Ukraine 

Ms. Bernadette Castel-Hollingsworth is UNHCR’s Representative in Ukraine since October 2025.

Prior to her current post, she served as Deputy Director in the Division of International Protection in the UNHCR headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland since 2019.

Ms. Castel-Hollingsworth joined UNHCR in 2000 as Associate Community-Based protection Officer in Islamabad, Pakistan. Since then, she has worked in different protection, legal policy, emergency coordinator and managerial positions across UNHCR’s operations in Africa, Asia and the Middle East , including in countries such as Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Jordan, Myanmar and Uganda.

Ms. Castel-Hollingsworth holds a Master of Arts Degree in Law from Paris West Nanterre La Défense University with a specialization in International Human Rights Law and a Master of Arts Degree from Aix-Marseille University in International Humanitarian Aid, Emergency and Rehabilitation.

In her earlier career, she has worked with Médecins du Monde in Paris, France, the Asian Network for Free Elections in Thailand, Bangkok and the Cambodian Human Rights Association in Phnom Penh, Cambodia as well as the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As Representative of UNHCR in Ukraine, Ms. Castel-Hollingsworth manages a diverse team of some 320 staff based in 5 locations (Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Lviv and Odesa).