Iraq’s former president Barham Salih has been chosen as the next High Commissioner for Refugees for the United Nations, a letter showed on Friday, breaking with a tradition of appointing leaders from major donor countries.

Axar.az informs, citing Reuters, the letter, signed by UN Chief Antonio Guterres and dated December 11, says Salih has been appointed for a five-year term beginning January 1.

He replaces Italy’s Filippo Grandi, a veteran UN official, who has held the position since 2016. The appointment is provisional and needs to be approved by UNHCR’s Executive Committee, the document showed.

Salih, a British-educated engineer from Iraq’s Kurdish region, faces major challenges with global displacement at record highs and about double the levels it was when Grandi first began.