Lea Matheson

Lea Matheson

Senior Adviser | Migration

Lea Matheson is a Senior Adviser on Migration in the Office of the President of the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly. She joins the Office of the President on secondment from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

With over 15 years with IOM, Lea has served in a variety of positions, including Deputy Permanent Observer in New York and Senior Humanitarian Policy Adviser at IOM Headquarters in Geneva. She was also part of team of the Special Adviser on the Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants.   Lea’s policy focus is on migration and humanitarian affairs, with particular concern for migrant and IDPs, elections and humanitarian response, as well as the reform process.

She co-founded and was the first co-chair for the Global Camp Coordination/Camp Management Cluster which strengthened response to displaced populations worldwide. She has also worked for the Organization for the Security and Cooperation in Europe and the United Nations, and  worked in several field locations including the Sudan, Iraq, Timor Leste, Kosovo, Croatia and Egypt.

Lea is a Canadian national and holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in History and Political Science from Brock University and the University of Toronto.