Francesca Albanese

Profile Overview

Francesca Paola Albanese (Italian: [franˈtʃeska ˈpaːola albaˈneːze, -eːse]; born 30 March 1977) is an Italian legal scholar and expert on human rights. She has served as the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories since 1 May 2022; initially appointed for a three-year term, she was confirmed for another three years in April 2025. She is the first woman to hold the position.
As part of her position as a UN special rapporteur, Albanese has been critical of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories and recommended in her first report that UN member states develop a plan to end the occupation and apartheid. After the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, Albanese called for an immediate ceasefire and warned that Palestinians in Gaza were at risk of ethnic cleansing. In March 2024, Albanese reported to the UN Human Rights Council that Israel's actions in Gaza amounted to genocide. Pro-Israel organizations, including the U.S. government, have accused Albanese of antisemitism and anti-Israel bias, and have called for her removal. Several human rights groups and numerous scholars of antisemitism have said the accusations are illegitimate attempts to discredit her. The UN published a report by Albanese in June 2025 stating that many corporate entities, including Microsoft, Alphabet Inc., and Amazon, were enabling and profiting from the occupation of Palestinian territories and the Gaza genocide. In response, the United States under the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Albanese under Executive Order 14203 naming her a "specially designated national", forbidding all U.S. persons and companies from doing business with her.
Albanese holds a law degree with honours from the University of Pisa and a Master of Laws in human rights from SOAS University of London. She was an affiliate scholar at the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University until late 2025, when the University stated it was ended due to the U.S. sanctions. She is a senior advisor on Migration and Forced Displacement at the non-profit Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development.