Our people

Martin Griffiths joined the Institute as a Senior Advisor in March 2026 after being its first Executive Director between 2014 and 2018.

 He was appointed Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator in 2021 and held the post until 2024. Since 2018, he served as the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Yemen. Between 2012 and 2014, he served as an adviser to the Special Envoys of the Secretary-General for Syrian Arab Republic. From 1999 to 2010, he was the founding Director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva. He has extensive experience in conflict mediation and humanitarian affairs and led on humanitarian negotiations, e.g. the Black Sea Grain Initiative.