Westminster Abbey Institute has announced it will be welcoming Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, to deliver this year’s flagship One People Oration.
Taking place on Monday 17th November from 6.30pm – 7.45pm in the historic setting of Westminster Abbey, the 2025 One People Oration, ‘The courage to welcome: solidarity in a divided world’, will be both a farewell from a major international figure and a call to the next generation of public servants.
In what will be one of his final public addresses before leaving office, Grandi will be reflecting on a decade of global displacement, leadership and moral responsibility.
Filippo Grandi is the 11th United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He was first elected by the UN General Assembly in 2016 for a five-year term, before being re-elected, and he will complete his term at the end of this year. Grandi was born in Milan in 1957 and has been engaged in refugee and humanitarian work for more than 30 years.
From 2010 to 2014, he served as Commissioner-General of UNRWA, the UN Agency for Palestine refugees, having previously been its Deputy Commissioner-General since 2005. He also served as Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Afghanistan and has worked with NGOs and UNHCR in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and its Geneva headquarters.
As part of his address, High Commissioner Grandi will reflect on what it means to lead with compassion in a world in which long-standing shared traditions of sanctuary and refuge are being called into question, and how institutions and individuals can sustain solidarity and support for forcibly displaced people amid rising division and increasingly stretched resources.
Dr Edge Watchorn, Director at Westminster Abbey Institute, said: “This year’s One People Oration presents a rare opportunity to hear directly from Filippo Grandi at a defining moment in his public service career. For those who strive to serve the public good against a backdrop of global conflict and displacement, considerations of what it means to lead ethically and to serve with hope are both poignant and timely. We are very much looking forward to hearing Filippo Grandi’s insights and reflections drawn from his rich and vast experience spanning more than three decades.”
Westminster Abbey Institute was established in 2013 to nurture and revitalise moral and spiritual values in public life and service. Drawing on the Abbey’s resources of spirituality and theological learning, it brings together leaders from public institutions and public servants of all faiths and none to convene discussion, nourish reflection and inspire regeneration.
The Institute’s Autumn Series is part of a wider programme of events running throughout the year. It aims to foster meaningful discussion on public life’s biggest questions, with inspiring speakers exploring ethics, moral leadership and societal values, set within the Abbey’s unique and historic setting.
All Westminster Abbey Institute Autumn Series events are free of charge. To book tickets and for more information about each event, visit www.westminster-abbey.org/institute/public-programmes.
