Protection officer, UNHCR Canada
Nadia Williamson has an LLM degree in International Law from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. She started her UNHCR career as an Associate Protection Officer in Venezuela where she worked in registration, resettlement and community- building activities for almost three years. In 2010, she took up a position as an Associate Eligibility Officer in Ethiopia where she conducted refugee status determination. Subsequently, she managed a scholarship program for Latin American students funded by GAC for two years. She has been working as a Protection Officer in Ottawa since 2011 where she has prepared comments to Canadian legislation and policies, advocated for the protection of UNHCR persons of concern and organized several events to highlight the needs of refugees and stateless people. She was deployed to Colombia last year to help with the Venezuela emergency situation. She worked closely with local government and civil society organizations to address risks and needs of Venezuelans by developing individual case management procedures, referrals to service providers, and provided technical guidance to partners. She is married and has two young children.
UNHCR Canada protection officer Nadia Williamson recalls spending Mother’s Day on the Venezuela-Colombia border last year and explains why she’ll be thinking of the women and children there this week.
