U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths is stepping down for health reasons after nearly three years of trying to tackle mounting humanitarian crises in Ukraine, Gaza, and Africa. Griffiths, 72, contracted a severe case of COVID-19 in October and is still suffering from long COVID. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres praised Griffiths for his leadership and service to the United Nations and the humanitarian community. Griffiths will remain in his post until the end of June to allow for a smooth transition [4e63bfcf].
Griffiths, a British diplomat, served as the U.N. special envoy for Yemen for three years before taking on the U.N.'s top humanitarian post. He has also worked for various international humanitarian organizations. The announcement of his resignation was made by U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq [4e63bfcf].