Martin Griffiths (born 3 July 1951) is a British diplomat who served as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

from 2021 to 2024.

Early life and education

Born in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, Griffiths was educated at

Leighton Park School Leighton Park School is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private school for both day and boarding pupils in Reading, Berkshire, Reading in South East England. The school's ethos is closely tied to the Quaker values, having ...

and the University of Sussex. He holds a Master's degree in

Southeast Asian Studies Southeast Asian studies (SEAS) refers to research and education on the language, culture, and history of the different states and ethnic groups of Southeast Asia. Some institutions refer to this discipline as ASEAN Studies since most of the countri ...

from the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

and is a qualified

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

. He speaks French and English.

Career

Griffiths was a

career diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state, intergovernmental, or nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or international organizations. The main functions of diplomats a ...

at the UK's

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

and is an experienced conflict mediator. He previously served as the first executive director of the

European Institute of Peace The European Institute of Peace (EIP) is an independent, non-profit public foundation that contributes to shaping conflict resolution. It is a philanthropic, non-profit organisation. It provides support to negotiators, mediators and policy make ...

from 2016 to September 2018. In 1999, he helped launch the

Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), otherwise known as the Henry Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, works to prevent and resolve armed conflicts around the world through mediation and discreet diplomacy. A non-profit organisation base ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. He has also worked for

Save The Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

Action Aid ActionAid is an international non-governmental organization whose stated primary aim is to work against poverty and injustice worldwide. ActionAid is a federation of 45 country offices that works with communities, often via local partner organi ...

and

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

and has worked as an advisor to multiple United Nations Syria envoys. From 2018 to 2021 he served as the United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen at the

Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen The Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen is a Special Envoy of the Secretary-General first appointed in 2012 to assist the Secretary-General for Yemen. List of envoys Jamal Benomar: The first Special Envoy to Yemen was J ...

. In February 2021 he visited

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in an attempt to find a political solution to the Yemeni Civil War. On 12 May 2021, the United Nations Secretary-General,

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...

, announced that he had appointed Griffiths as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator at the

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a United Nations (UN) body established in December 1991 by the General Assembly to strengthen the international response to complex emergencies and natural disaster ...

, succeeding fellow Briton Mark Lowcock. On 15 February 2024,

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

reported that, in Griffiths's view, “Hamas is not a terrorist group for us, as you know, it is a political movement". In March 2024, Griffiths stated he was appalled by the Al-Rashid humanitarian aid incident, saying, "Life is draining out of Gaza at terrifying speed." On 25 March 2024, Griffiths announced that he was leaving his post at the United Nations for health reasons. He retired on 1 July 2024 and was succeeded by fellow Briton Thomas Fletcher. In November 2024, Griffiths was awarded an honorary degree by University of Galway for services to peace-keeping and diplomacy. In March 2025, Griffiths was made an Honorary Research Associate of th
Humanitarian Learning Centre
at the

Institute of Development Studies An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

, University of Sussex.

References

1951 births Living people Alumni of the University of Sussex Alumni of SOAS University of London 21st-century British diplomats British officials of the United Nations People educated at Leighton Park School UN Special Envoys for Yemen {{UN-bio-stub