Delivering as One, a UN in China conversation presented by Resident Coordinator Siddharth Chatterjee: Episode 9 with Vanno Noupech, UNHCR Representative in China

In the ninth episode of the UN in China podcast, UN Resident Coordinator in China Siddharth Chatterjee sits down with Vanno Noupech, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative in China.

Mr. Noupech, a Cambodian national, was born northwest of the country in Battambang. However, his father's career and later diplomatic postings saw his family relocate to various parts of the world throughout childhood. Returning home to Cambodia amidst the end of the Cambodian Civil War, the start of the rule of the Khmer Rouge, and the associated turmoil and conflict would eventually result in his placement at a Thai refugee camp as an unaccompanied minor separated from his parents. This experience would motivate his later work with UNHCR. Despite these circumstances, he went on to complete his secondary education in 1983, later accepting a scholarship in the former Soviet Union to take up further studies in engineering. He would return to Cambodia, working in roles for the Ministry of Planning and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before departing in 1991 on scholarship for postgraduate studies in Italy.

Mr. Noupech first joined the UN system in 1994 as a Junior Professional Officer for UNHCR in Azerbaijan. As an Associate Field Officer responsible for a significant caseload of internally displaced persons due to the first Nagorno-Karabakh War, this posting would inform a later assignment in Chechnya. He would go on to take up other positions with UNHCR in Rwanda and Bosnia and Herzegovina, among many other countries in his 28-year career. After serving as UNHCR Representative in the Russian Federation, he was then appointed to his current role and joined the UN family in China in August 2021.

“I was myself affected by forced displacement, I was separated from my parents, I spent some time in a refugee camp, so I feel very strongly about my work with UNHCR,”

In this episode, Mr. Noupech discusses the shifting nature of UNHCR’s priorities in the country since establishing its presence as part of the UN family in 1979, during which the Indochina refugee crisis saw over 280,000 people flee to China. Today, he remains encouraged by the support of the people and Government of China to UNHCR’s work. While the number of persons of concern in China nowadays is small, UNHCR works with relevant government counterparts to ensure legally recognized status and fundamental rights for this group and promotes solutions to enable their access to education, social services, and other public goods.  

During the conversation, Mr. Noupech cited the recent report of more than 100 million people forcibly displaced worldwide, expressing dismay at the tragedy of this milestone, and calling for more action on the Global Compact on Refugees. Accordingly, he highlights how UNHCR in China is going beyond domestic issues to supporting the country’s growing role in international cooperation efforts in order to address the global refugee crisis and the root causes of forced displacement. He raises UNHCR’s cooperation with the Government of China, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the China International Development Cooperation Agency, and related projects in countries such as South Sudan, Tanzania, and Afghanistan.

Together with the Resident Coordinator, the two discuss other challenges and opportunities in the years ahead, including in the areas of climate resilience and environmental sustainability, as well as UNHCR’s work in China to leave no one behind and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, as part of the UN system in China.

For users in mainland China, please click this link

Vanno Noupech

Mr. Vanno Noupech arrived in Beijing to assume his position as UNHCR’s Representative in China in November 2021.

His nearly 30-year career with UNHCR includes extensive emergency preparedness, response, coordination and field operation experience in Africa, Asia and Europe as well as senior management roles in UNHCR’s Geneva headquarters. He delivered humanitarian response programming at the field level in the Russian Federation during the Chechen crisis in 1996, in Rwanda in 1997 in the aftermath of the genocide and in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1999.

During his five-year tenure as Senior Emergency Preparedness and Response Officer at UNHCR headquarters from 2002 to 2007, he was deployed to lead emergency response in Afghanistan, Benin, Burundi, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, East Timor, Egypt, Georgia, Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Uzbekistan.

Mr. Noupech served as Deputy Regional Representative at the Regional Representation Office for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine from 2011 to 2016. He then served as Principal Emergency Coordinator at the UNHCR Division of Emergency, Supply and Security (DESS) at UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva from 2016 until 2018. From 2018 to 2021, he was appointed as UNHCR’s Representative in the Russian Federation.

Mr. Noupech holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering as well as a post-graduate certificate in European Studies with focus on European Economy, Law and Politics. He speaks Khmer, English, French, Italian and Russian.

Siddharth Chatterjee

Siddharth Chatterjee took office as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in China on 16 January 2021 and is the designated representative of - and reports to - the UN Secretary-General. He presented his letter of credence to the President of China on 14 April 2021.

Mr. Chatterjee has more than 25 years of experience in international cooperation, sustainable development, humanitarian coordination and peace and security in the United Nations and the Red Cross movement. He has served in many fragile and war-torn countries all over the world.

A 3 times TEDx speaker, he is a regular opinion contributor on humanitarian and development issues for a range of journals which includes Newsweek, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Huffington Post, Forbes, CNN, Al Jazeera, the Guardian and as of late has also published in mainstream Chinese journals.

Mr. Chatterjee holds a master’s degree in public policy from Princeton University in the United States of America.