UN, November 18. /TASS/. The United Nations (UN) has announced the appointment of Italian Filippo Grandi as the new UN refugee chief for the next five years.

Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, has nominated Grandi for the election. The General Assembly made a consensus agreement.

Grandi, who will take up the job on January 1, was head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA) from 2005 to 2014.

Grandi will replace Portugal's Antonio Guterres, who was holding the rank since 2005.