Team size: 25-30  
 
How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?  
 
My organisation, UNHCR, operates with approximately 20,000 personnel and 1,700 NGO partners in 130 countries across the world, wherever people have been forced to flee due to persecution, conflict, among other reasons. My legal team and I help guide UNHCR’s operations through our responses to crises and instability in and around the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, and Europe.   
 
We have seen the traditional role of legal as a compliance function expand during times of crisis and instability to mitigate reputational and financial risks and leverage opportunities to facilitate solutions. We are involved in all aspects of risk and take a principled, risk-conscious approach rather than a risk-averse compliance-based one. This means that our “clients,” whether senior management, HQ divisions, or field operations, increasingly seek our support because we add value, not out of a sense of obligation. During crises, we must find ways to help our operations remain and deliver by managing risks. It is not an option for our humanitarian agency to retreat simply because there are legal risks.  
 
Our legal strategy closely aligns with UNHCR’s broader strategic directives. It supports greater effectiveness, efficiency, and integrity in the delivery of UNHCR’s humanitarian operations, encompassing assistance such as cash aid, protection of vulnerable individuals like survivors of sexual violence, and finding solutions for those forced to flee. It is deeply embedded into UNHCR’s overall business, notably concerning innovation and IT, as well as cash-based intervention programmatic activities. While we align ourselves to long-term strategies and objectives, we remain agile in responding to changes and trends.  
 
When the Ukraine emergency broke out in March 2022, our legal team was at the forefront of developing an innovative and award-winning blockchain solution for cash distribution in Ukraine. In this resource-challenged context, we are enhancing our immediate-term strategy to focus on funds coming into UNHCR and our related efforts around innovative finance, engagement with development actors, and the private sector. We have also been deeply involved in setting up an innovative, Shariah-compliant endowment fund for refugees with the Islamic Development Bank; it is known as the Global Islamic Fund for Refugees.  
 
One of our legal team’s key focuses moving forward will be to support greater access for refugees, NGOs, and humanitarian agencies to climate and development finance, fully in line with UNHCR’s climate action strategy.  
 

What measures has your company taken to embed sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how does the role of the general counsel contribute to driving and ensuring sustainable practices within the company? 
 
UNHCR’s commitment to sustainability practices and reducing our environmental impact is realised through several targeted projects, including, transitioning our UNHCR offices from diesel to solar power through our Green Financing Facility. We provide dedicated legal support to engage with regulatory authorities and develop the contractual framework to facilitate this transition in some of the world’s most complicated contexts.  
 
Furthermore, we are also installing Green Boxes in 418 UNHCR offices to remotely measure our electricity consumption. In addition, we are piloting smart air conditioning management sensors, greening our vehicle fleet by implementing ridesharing and carpooling among UN agencies on the ground in over 104 offices, and finally, offsetting our greenhouse gas emissions through reputable carbon credits.  
 
The legal office maintains a close relationship with UNHCR’s special advisor on Climate Action, who serves as the primary driver of UNHCR’s sustainability practices. We allocate dedicated legal resources to ensure that projects meet regulatory requirements and colleagues can navigate the complex regulatory environment involved in sustainable energy resources and carbon credits.