Martin Griffiths was until June 2024 the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs during which he led the mediation resulting in the Black Sea Grain Initiative that secured food and fertilizer exports from Russia-blockaded Ukraine in 2022. He has more than 50 years’ experience serving in some of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, including as UN Special Envoy to Yemen. In 1999, he founded the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva, where he mediated between governments and insurgent groups across Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Martin Griffiths: ‘I’ve never seen a war like Gaza, with such desecration’
The former UN humanitarian chief tells Iona Allan about the impunity he sees in Gaza and Sudan, the failings of the Security Council and why aid is not a substitute for ‘principled’ conflict mediation.
