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United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

 
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United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
 
 
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The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR; established December 14, 1950) is a United Nations
United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
 agency mandated to protect and support refugee
Refugee

Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecutionOwing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality,...
s at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country. Its headquarters are in Geneva
Geneva

Geneva is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie . Situated where the Rh?ne River exits Lake Geneva , it is the capital of the Canton of Geneva....
, Switzerland
Switzerland

Switzerland is a landlocked Swiss Alps country of roughly 7.7 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km?. Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called Cantons of Switzerland....
.

R was established on December 14, 1950 and succeeded the earlier United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration

The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration was proposed to the United States Congress by president Franklin Delano Roosevelt on June 9, 1943 to provide relief to areas liberated from Axis powers of World War II after World War II....
.






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The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR; established December 14, 1950) is a United Nations
United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
 agency mandated to protect and support refugee
Refugee

Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecutionOwing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality,...
s at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country. Its headquarters are in Geneva
Geneva

Geneva is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie . Situated where the Rh?ne River exits Lake Geneva , it is the capital of the Canton of Geneva....
, Switzerland
Switzerland

Switzerland is a landlocked Swiss Alps country of roughly 7.7 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km?. Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called Cantons of Switzerland....
.

History

UNHCR was established on December 14, 1950 and succeeded the earlier United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration

The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration was proposed to the United States Congress by president Franklin Delano Roosevelt on June 9, 1943 to provide relief to areas liberated from Axis powers of World War II after World War II....
. 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
Refugee

Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecutionOwing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality,...
 and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country.

UNHCR's mandate has gradually been expanded to include protecting and providing humanitarian assistance to what it describes as other persons "of concern," including internally displaced person
Internally displaced person

Internally displaced persons are people forced to flee their homes but who, unlike refugees, remain within their country's borders. At the end of 2006 estimates of the world IDP population rose to 24.5 million in some 52 countries....
s (IDPs) who would fit the legal definition of a refugee
Refugee

Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecutionOwing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality,...
 under the 1951 United Nations
United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees

The United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees is an international convention that defines who is a refugee, and sets out the rights of individuals who are granted Right of asylum and the responsibilities of nations that grant asylum....
 and 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization for African Unity Convention, or some other treaty if they left their country, but who presently remain in their country of origin. UNHCR presently has major missions in Lebanon
Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of Lebanon or Lebanese Republic , is a country in Western Asia, on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea....
, South Sudan
Sudan

Sudan is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest in the African continent and the Arab World, and List of countries and outlying territories by total area by area....
, Chad
Chad

Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west....
/Darfur
Darfur

Darfur is a region in Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by History of the Anglo-Egyptian co-dominium....
, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq
Iraq

Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country that is located approximately in the center of Asia....
 as well as Kenya
Kenya

The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the northeast, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and Sudan to the northwest, with the Indian Ocean running along the southeast border....
 to assist and provide services to IDPs and refugees.

Palestine refugee mandate

Most Palestinian refugees – those in the West Bank
West Bank

The West Bank is the eastern Part of the Palestinian territories on the west bank of the River Jordan in the Middle East. To the west, north, and south the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel....
, Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip

The Gaza Strip is a coastal strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Egypt on the south-west and Israel on the south, east and north....
, Lebanon
Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of Lebanon or Lebanese Republic , is a country in Western Asia, on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea....
, Syria
Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north....
, and Jordan
Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba....
 – do not come within the responsibility of the UNHCR, but instead come under an older body, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is a relief and human development agency, providing education, health care, social services and emergency aid to over four hundred thousand Palestine refugees living in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, as well as in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip....
 (UNRWA). But Palestinian refugees outside of UNRWA's area of operations do fall under UNHCR's mandate, if they meet the UNHCR's more limited definition of refugee.

Public awareness

Several new programmes have recently been introduced to support and bring awareness to the issues faced by refugees around the world. These two new programs are a product of the benchmarks set out by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

Awards

UNHCR was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize is one of five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel. According to Nobel's will , the Peace Prize should be awarded "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for :wikt:fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the h...
 in 1954 and 1981.

Persons of concern to UNHCR


As of 1 January 2007, UNHCR reported a total of 21 018 589 individuals falling under its mandate.
  • 7 979 251 in Asia
    Asia

    Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
    , of which
    • 2 580 638 in the Middle-East
    • 2 974 315 in South-East Asia
    • 218 584 in Central Asia
    • 1 304 189 in South Asia
    • 901 525 in East Asia and the Pacific


  • 4 740 392 in Europe
    Europe

    Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
    , of which
    • 1 617 214 in Eastern Europe
    • 708 132 in South-East Europe
    • 616 132 in Central Europe and in the Baltic states
    • 1 798 914 in Western Europe


  • 5 069 123 in Africa
    Africa

    Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
    , of which
    • 1 359 175 in Central Africa and the Great Lakes region
    • 2 105 314 in Eastern Africa
    • 1 031 030 in Western Africa
    • 434 427 in the Southern African region
    • 139 177 in North Africa


  • 3 229 822 in America
    Americas

    The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
    , of which
    • 717 545 in North America
      North America

      North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
       and in the Caribbean
      Caribbean

      The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
    • 2 512 277 in South America
      South America

      South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....


Staffing

The UNHCR employs a staff of approximately 6,300 people in more than 110 countries.

High Commissioners

The post of High Commissioner has been held by:

  • António Guterres
    António Guterres

    Ant?nio Manuel de Oliveira Guterres, Order of Christ is a Portugal politician, a former List of Prime Ministers of Portugal and President of the Socialist International....
    , 2005 - present (term to expire in 2010) (Portugal
    Portugal

    Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
    )
  • Ruud Lubbers
    Ruud Lubbers

    'Rudolphus Franciscus Marie Lubbers' or was Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1982 – 1994. A political conservative, Lubbers was regarded by many during his time in office as an ideological heir to Margaret Thatcher; one of his campaign slogans was: "meer markt, minder overheid" ....
    , 2001 - 2005 (the Netherlands
    Netherlands

    The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
    )
  • Sadako Ogata
    Sadako Ogata

    , born 1927, is a Japanese scholar and Administration . She served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from 1991 until 2001. She was appointed as the president of the Japan International Cooperation Agency on October 1, 2003 and is still serving as of 2008....
    , 1990 - 2000 (Japan
    Japan

    Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
    )
  • Thorvald Stoltenberg
    Thorvald Stoltenberg

    Thorvald Stoltenberg is a prominent Norway politician. He served as Minister of Defense and Minister of Foreign Affairs in two Norwegian Labour Party governments....
    , January-November 1990 (Norway
    Norway

    Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
    )
  • Jean-Pierre Hocké, 1986 - 1989 (Switzerland
    Switzerland

    Switzerland is a landlocked Swiss Alps country of roughly 7.7 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km?. Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called Cantons of Switzerland....
    )
  • Poul Hartling
    Poul Hartling

    Poul Hartling was a Denmark diplomat and politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party and served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 1973 to 1975....
    , 1978 - 1985 (Denmark
    Denmark

    Denmark is a Scandinavian country in northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries....
    )
  • Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, 1965 - 1977 (Iran
    Iran

    Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
    )
  • Félix Schnyder, 1960 - 1965 (Switzerland
    Switzerland

    Switzerland is a landlocked Swiss Alps country of roughly 7.7 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km?. Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called Cantons of Switzerland....
    )
  • Auguste R. Lindt, 1956 - 1960 (Switzerland
    Switzerland

    Switzerland is a landlocked Swiss Alps country of roughly 7.7 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km?. Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called Cantons of Switzerland....
    )
  • Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart, 1951 - 1956 (the Netherlands
    Netherlands

    The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
    )


Prior to the establishment of UNHCR, Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Nansen

Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen was a Norway explorer, scientist and diplomat. Nansen was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922 for his work as a League of Nations High Commissioner....
 was the League of Nations
League of Nations

The League of Nations was an inter-governmental organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919?1920. At its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had 58 members....
 High Commissioner for Refugees from 1922.

Goodwill ambassadors


UNHCR is also represented by a number of UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador
UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassadors are celebrity representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees who use their talent and fame to advocate for refugees....
s, who at present are Barbara Hendricks
Barbara Hendricks

Barbara Hendricks is an American-born operatic soprano and concert singer. She is also known for her work as a human rights activist. Hendricks is currently a citizen of Sweden....
, Adel Imam, Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie is an American film actor and a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador for the UNHCR. She has been cited as one of the world's most beautiful women and her off-screen life is widely reported....
, Giorgio Armani
Giorgio Armani

Giorgio Armani is an Italian fashion designer, particularly noted for his menswear. He is known today for his clean, tailored lines. He formed his company, Armani, in 1974, and by 2001 was acclaimed as the most successful designer to come out of Italy, with an annual turnover of $1.691 billion, and a personal fortune of $5 billion....
, Boris Trajanov
Boris Trajanov

Boris Trajanov is Macedonians operatic baritone.At the beginning, he studied singing with his father Goga Trajanov in Skopje. He continued his studies with Biserka Cvejic in Belgrade and Pier Miranda Ferraro in Milano....
, Julien Clerc
Julien Clerc

Paul-Alain Leclerc, popularly known as Julien Clerc is a France singer.His father was a UNESCO employee and his mother is from Guadeloupe....
, George Dalaras
George Dalaras

George Dalaras , also possibly spelled as Yorgos or Giorgos Dalaras, is a Greece singer. He is of international fame and has recently been selected as a Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Goodwill Ambassador....
, Osvaldo Laport
Osvaldo Laport

Rubens Osvaldo Udaquiola Laport is an Argentina actor and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador born in Uruguay. In 2000, he earned Mart?n Fierro for his portrayal in television comedy Campeones de la Vida....
, Khaled Hosseini
Khaled Hosseini

Khaled Hosseini is an United States novelist and physician originally from Afghanistan. He is now a citizen of the United States. His 2003 in literature debut novel, The Kite Runner, was an international bestseller, selling in more than 10 million copies worldwide....
 and Muazzez Ersoy
Muazzez Ersoy

Muazzez Ersoy , is a Turkish people Classical music and Folk music singer....
. Previous ambassadors include Richard Burton
Richard Burton

Richard Burton, Order of the British Empire was a multi award-winning Wales actor. He was at one time the highest-paid actor in Hollywood....
, James Mason
James Mason

James Neville Mason was a three-time Academy Award-nominated British People actor who attained stardom in both United Kingdom and United States films....
 and Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren

Sophia Loren is an Academy Award-winning Italian people film actress. She is widely considered to be the most popular Italian actress of her time and is also famous for being a major international sex symbol....
.

See also

  • United Nations
    United Nations

    The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
  • Nansen International Office for Refugees
  • United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Representation in Cyprus
    United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Representation in Cyprus

    Established on December 14 1950, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country....


External links

  • : from UNHCR's Status Determination and Protection Information Section (SDPIS) in the Division of International Protection Services (DIPS).
  • - UK Government site
  • Online video of an address by Ms. Erika Feller, Director, Department of International Protection, UNHCR, in 2005
  • by Jacob Stevens