Ann Allen Encontre

I am a CEDR accredited civil & commercial mediator, former lawyer and former Director of Ethics for the UNHCR UN Refugee Agency. I am based in Geneva, Switzerland.

I have recently retired as the Director of Ethics for the UNHCR. In that role I led the team in providing confidential ethical advice and guidance to the workforce, overseeing the protection against retaliation framework, supporting the ongoing Code of Conduct Dialogues, and implementing the Financial Disclosure Programme – in support of the Ethics Office’s dual mandate to promote the highest standards of integrity of the workforce and cultivate a culture of ethics.

My path in UNHCR started back in 1993, when I joined the UN from the Caribbean. I am an experienced Country Representative with a demonstrated history of working in international affairs. Skilled in Coordination of delivery of Humanitarian Assistance, Conflict Resolution, Development issues, Policy Analysis, International Humanitarian Law, and Refugee Law. Strong leader with experience in Estate Planning, community and social services, focused in Law from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados and a product of the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica.

Having occupied several positions across UNHCR, including as UNHCR’s Representative in Djibouti, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and, most recently, Ethiopia – some of the organization’s most complex operations, I worked within the UNHCR Ethics Office with the commitment to promote the core values and the good moral behaviour by which I live.