Philomena Cleobury
UNHCR – The UN Refugee Agency
Philomena Cleobury is a Senior Legal Officer in the Legal Affairs Service of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), based in Geneva. Philomena advises on issues of international law in the context of providing legal support to UNHCR’s operations globally, including on matters related to the implementation of UNHCR’s climate strategy; financial inclusion and the delivery of cash assistance to refugees and forcibly displaced people; engagement with international accountability mechanisms; innovative finance matters; issues related to sanctions; and UNHCR engagement with the private sector and with other international organisations. Throughout 2023 Philomena was seconded to the UNICEF Legal Office as Chief of the Partnerships, Programmes and Innovation Section. Prior to joining UNHCR, Philomena worked for the UN Office of the Legal Counsel where she advised on a broad range of matters of international law, including related to international and UN-assisted criminal tribunals; new accountability mechanisms; peacekeeping operations; international humanitarian law; privileges and immunities and host country agreements. Before joining the UN, Philomena specialised in international arbitration with global law firm, Linklaters LLP. Philomena holds an LLM with distinction in Public International Law from UCL, and a BA (Hons) in Jurisprudence with European Law from Corpus Christi College, Oxford and the University of Leiden, Netherlands.