Philippe Lazzarini has been the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) since March 2020. He spearheads assistance and protection programmes for Palestinian refugees.  

He has had a long career with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and served as Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Somalia. Between 2015 and 2020, he was the UN Deputy Special Coordinator for Lebanon and UNDP Resident Representative, before taking up the leadership of UNRWA.