Overview
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide.
Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country. It also has a mandate to help stateless people.
The budget has grown from US$300,000 in its first year to more than US$3.32 billion in 2011. From only 34 staff members when UNHCR was founded, a UNHCR staff of some 7,190 now deals with more than 36 million people of concern to UNHCR in more than 123 countries, including:
- 15.6 million internally displaced people
- 10 million refugees,
- 2.5 million returnees,
- 6.5 million stateless people
- and close to one million asylum seekers.
For more information about what UNHCR does in the field click here to visit our global website.
The High Commissioner
António Guterres, who joined UNHCR on June 15, 2005, is the UN refugee agency's 10th High Commissioner. For more information about the High Comissioner click here >>
UNHCR Statute