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Fact Sheet:
The United Nations Refugee Agency

 

The UN Refugee Agency is the leading agency safeguarding the rights and well-being of refugees escaping war, violence and persecution around the globe. Officially known as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the agency operates in more than 120 countries¹ — from major capitals to remote, difficult locations where UNHCR is directly helping those in desperate need of shelter, food, water, medical care and other life-saving assistance.

UNHCR is unique both in terms of the number of people it helps and as the only institution mandated by the international community to lead and coordinate the world’s response to refugee issues. Since its founding in 1951, UNHCR has helped more than 50 million men, women and children uprooted by conflict and violence start new lives.

As the only agency with the legal standing to negotiate with governments on behalf of refugees or displaced people, UNHCR defends refugees’ and stateless people’s rights to work, travel and attend school in another country or region. UNHCR’s work in promoting international refugee agreements and establishing asylum structures with individual governments also makes it possible for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to operate and provide aid and resources.

How extensive is UNHCR’s role in safeguarding the rights and well-being of the world’s refugees and displaced people? The following provides a look at the scope and impact of UNHCR’s activities around the globe:

• UNHCR’s biggest operations are in Afghanistan, Chad, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan, Iraq and surrounding countries, and Sudan.²
• Providing fleeing civilians with emergency help is often the first type of UNHCR assistance. This includes food, clean water, sanitation, medical care and shelter materials such as blankets, sleeping mats, jerry cans, and household goods. In many countries, UNHCR also offers medical aid and counseling to victims of gender-based violence.
• Although UNHCR’s initial goal is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees, its ultimate objective is to find a durable solution so refugees can rebuild their lives. There are three ways UNHCR achieves this long-term goal: 1) returning the refugee to his/her homeland when conditions permit (voluntary repatriation), 2) local integration into the host country where the person is now living; and 3) resettlement to a third country in situations where it is impossible for a person to go back home or remain in the host country.
• Over the years, UNHCR has managed numerous large-scale programs that have brought many millions of refugees home. As part of these programs, UNHCR often arranges the transportation and offers financial assistance packages. The agency also assists returning refugees in rebuilding or restoring their homes and finding jobs in their communities.³
• In Afghanistan alone, some five million refugees have returned with UNHCR assistance since 2002.⁴
• While going home remains the strongest hope of most refugees, UNHCR estimates that during the past decade 1.1 million refugees around the world became citizens in their country of asylum.⁵
• For those unable to go home and to remain in their host country, UNHCR helps refugees and stateless people resettle in a third country that agrees to grant them permanent settlement. Although only about 1% of the refugee population is referred to other countries for resettlement,⁶ in 2008, UNHCR referred the files of more than 121,000 refugees for consideration by resettlement countries — the highest number in 15 years and 22% above the 2007 level (98,999 people).
• UNHCR provides health services to some 1.5 million camp-based refugees⁷ through a special Health Information System now operating in 18 countries. Among the priorities for UNHCR are measles immunization, nutritional support, control of communicable diseases and epidemics, implementation of the reproduction health measures and public health surveillance.⁸ In more developed and urban settings, public health priorities also include the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular and chronic diseases and cancers.⁹
• Today, UNHCR also operates comprehensive programs to ensure displaced people have universal access to HIV prevention services and AIDS treatment, care and support programs.¹⁰
• Providing access to basic education for boys and girls alike is another priority of UNHCR. Accordingly, UNHCR provides education for all forcibly displaced young people in refugee camps, during repatriation and even during emergencies.
• UNHCR is prepared to respond to these crises at a moment’s notice. The agency has the capacity respond to a new emergency affecting up to 500,000 people¹¹ and can mobilize within 72 hours.¹² UNHCR also maintains emergency stockpiles of non-food aid items in Copenhagen and Dubai and has long-standing agreements with freight forwarders and logistics companies that can get needed supplies to the field quickly.¹³
• Today, the United States is the world's top resettlement country, while Australia, Canada and the Nordic countries also accommodate a sizeable number of refugees annually.
• By nationality, the main beneficiaries of UNHCR-facilitated resettlement programs to the United States were refugees from Iraq, Myanmar, and Bhutan.¹⁴
  

References

1. UNHCR Web site: Where We Work: Around the World in Many Ways
   
2. UNHCR Web site: Where We Work: Around the World in Many Ways
   
3. UNHCR Web site: Assistance: A Helping Hand
   
4. UNHCR Web site: Returnees: Going Back Home
   
5. UNHCR Web site: Local Integration
6. UNHCR Web site: Resettlement: A New Beginning in a Third Country
7. UNHCR Web site: Health Information System: Using Information to Protect Refugee Health
8. UNHCR Web site: What We Do: Public Health
9. UNHCR Web site: What We Do: Public Health
10. UNHCR Web site: HIV/AIDS: The Displaced and HIV/AIDS
11. UNHCR Web site: Emergency Response: Emergency Preparedness and Response
12. UNHCR Web site: Emergency Response: Emergency Preparedness and Response
13. UNHCR Web site: Emergency Response: Emergency Preparedness and Response
14. UNHCR Web site: Emergency Response: Emergency Preparedness and Response

 

Facts & Figures

• Campaign Announcement Press release
• About the Blue Key Campaign
• Backgrounder on the Refugee Crisis
• The International Refugee Crisis by the Numbers
• Fact Sheet on UNHCR
• What Supporters are Saying About Refugees
• Scarcity of Firewood in Refugee Camps Threatens Environment in Developing Countries
• Who Are Refugees?
• FAQs