TheLeague of Nations, founded in January 1920, was the first worldwideintergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintainworld peace.[3] The following year it established the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, appointing Norwegian scientistFridtjof Nansen as the first to hold the post.[4]
After Nansen’s death in 1930, theNansen International Office for Refugees continued his work. This Office was replaced in 1938 by the appointment of a High Commissioner for Refugees.[5] As refugees fled Nazi Germany, the League of Nations appointedJames McDonald as High Commissioner for Refugees Coming from Germany. Facing strict global immigration limits, he helped resettle more than 80,000 refugees, mainly to Palestine. In 1935, McDonald resigned in protest at the League’s failure to act against the persecution of Jews under theNuremberg Laws, which stripped them of citizenship and basic rights. His office was replaced in 1938 by a new High Commissioner for Refugees. Its role was very limited and ended in 1946.[5]
In the late 1940s, the IRO fell out of favour, but the UN agreed that a body was required to oversee global refugee issues. After a series of extensive debates in theUnited Nations General Assembly, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established in December 1949 byResolution 319 (IV) as a subsidiary organ of the Assembly.[4] However, the organisation was only intended to operate for 3 years from January 1951, due to the disagreement of many UN member states over the implications of a permanent body.[5]
UNHCR's mandate was originally set out in its statute, annexed toresolution 428 (V) of the General Assembly of 1950. According to UNHCR, its mandate is to provide, on a non-political and humanitarian basis, international protection to refugees and to seek permanent solutions for them.[5] This mandate has been subsequently broadened by numerous resolutions of the General Assembly and itsEconomic and Social Council (ECOSOC).[5] People who were already receiving assistance from other organs of the United Nations, such asUNKRA andUNRWA, were excluded from UNHCR’s mandate.[5]
In addition to establishing UNHCR, governments also adopted the1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, that defines who is a refugee and standards for the treatment for those fulfilling this definition.[5] To this day, the Convention remains the foundation of international refugee law and established the legal framework and scope of UNHCR’s work, which initially focused on Europeans displaced by the war.[5]
Soon after the signing of the convention, it became clear that refugee crises were continuing and were not solely restricted to Europe. In 1956, UNHCR was involved in coordinating the response to theuprising in Hungary. Just a year later, UNHCR was tasked with dealing with Chinese refugees inHong Kong, while also responding to Algerian refugees who had fled toMorocco andTunisia in the wake ofAlgeria's war for independence. The responses marked the beginning of a wider, global mandate in refugee protection andhumanitarian assistance.[5]
Decolonisation in the 1960s triggered large refugee movements in Africa, creating a massive challenge that would transform UNHCR; unlike the refugee crises in Europe, there were no durable solutions in Africa, and many refugees who fled one country only found instability in their new country of refuge. By the end of the decade, two-thirds of UNHCR's budget was focused on operations in Africa, and in just one decade, the organization's focus had shifted from an almost exclusive focus on Europe.[5]
In 1967, theProtocol Relating to the Status of Refugees was adopted, removing the geographical and temporal restrictions of the 1951 Refugee Convention, which had limited UNHCR’s mandate to Europeans displaced after World War II. The Protocol expanded the scope of international refugee protection to new crises around the world, leading UNHCR to operate globally, with much of its work concentrated in developing countries.[6][7]
In the 1970s, UNHCR refugee operations continued to spread around the globe, with the mass exodus of East Pakistanis toIndia shortly before the birth ofBangladesh. Adding to the woes in Asia was theVietnam War, with millions fleeing Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.[5]The 1980s saw new challenges for UNHCR, with many member states unwilling to resettle refugees due to the sharp rise in refugee numbers over the 1970s. Often, these refugees were not fleeing wars between states, but inter-ethnic conflict in newly independent states. The targeting of civilians as military strategy added to the displacement in many nations, so even "minor" conflicts could result in a large number of displaced persons. Whether in Asia, Central America or Africa, these conflicts, fueled by superpower rivalry and aggravated by socio-economic problems within the concerned countries, durable solutions continued to prove a massive challenge for the UNHCR. As a result, the UNHCR became more heavily involved with assistance programs within refugee camps, often located in hostile environments.[5]
The end of theCold War marked continued inter-ethnic conflict and contributed heavily to refugee flight. In addition, humanitarian intervention by multinational forces became more frequent, and the media began to play a big role, particularly in the lead up to the 1999NATO mission inFR Yugoslavia, while by contrast, the1994 Rwandan Genocide had little attention. The genocide in Rwanda caused a massive refugee crisis, again highlighting the difficulties for UNHCR to uphold its mandate, and the UNHCR continued to battle against restrictive refugee policies in so-called "rich" nations.[5]
By its 65th anniversary in 2015, the agency had assisted more than 50 million refugees worldwide.[7]
As of June 2020, UNHCR has over 20 million refugees under its mandate.[2] Consequently, its annual budget has grown from US$300,000 in 1951 to US$8.6 billion in 2019, making it one of the largest UN agencies by expenditure.[2][8] The vast majority of UNHCR's budget comes from voluntary contributions, mostly from member states; the largest donors are the United States, the European Union, and Germany.[9] The agency's work includes providingprotection, shelter,healthcare andemergency relief, assisting in resettlement and repatriation, and advocating for national and multilateral policies on behalf of refugees.[10]
According to a 2021 study, the UNHCR has fulfilled its mandate to serve refugees independent of their location consistently over time. The organization has shown limited bias towards donors in the geographical distribution of its funds.[11]
In June 2025, UNHCR announced that approximately 3,500 staff positions would be discontinued and overall staffing costs reduced by around 30% following a significant decline in humanitarian funding. The agency said the restructuring included closing or downsizing offices and nearly a 50% reduction in senior posts at its Geneva headquarters and regional bureaux, with effects on programmes including cash assistance, health, education, and water and sanitation.[12] Earlier, internal memos reported by Reuters outlined plans to cut overall costs by 30%, halve senior positions and consolidate some country offices.[13] According to Reuters, UNHCR received over US$2 billion from the United States in 2024—about 40% of its total donations—but major donor reductions in 2025 sharply constrained the agency’s budget.[14] In July 2025, UNHCR warned that up to 11.6 million forcibly displaced people could lose access to direct assistance due to the funding shortfall, noting that only 23% of its US$10.6 billion appeal had been met by mid-year.[15]
UNHCR packages containing tents, tarps, and mosquito netting sit in a field inDadaab, Kenya, on 11 December 2006, following disastrous flooding
UNHCR was established on 14 December 1950[16] and succeeded the earlierUnited Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees (other thanPalestinian refugees, who are assisted byUNRWA) 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 toseek asylum and find safe refuge in another state, with the option toreturn home voluntarily, integrate locally or toresettle in a third country.
UNHCR maintains a database of refugee information, ProGres, which was created during theKosovo War in the 1990s. The database today contains data on over 11 million refugees, or about 11% of all displaced persons globally. The database contains biometric data, includingfingerprints andiris scans and is used to determine aid distribution for recipients. The results of using biometric verification have been successful. When introduced in Kenyan refugee camps ofKakuma andDadaab in the year 2013, theUN World Food Programme was able to eliminate $1.4M in waste and fraud.[17]
To achieve its mandate, the UNHCR engages in activities both in the countries of interest and in countries with donors. This includes hosting "expert roundtables" to discuss issues of concern to the international refugee community.
Palestinian refugees living in the areas ofJordan,Lebanon,Syria, theGaza Strip and theWest Bank, includingEast Jerusalem, are covered by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Unlike UNHCR, UNRWA does not have a mandate to resettle Palestine refugees and has no authority to seek lasting durable solutions for refugees.[18]
UNHCR 50th anniversary. Stamp of Tajikistan, 2001.
Several new programs have recently been introduced to support and to heighten awareness of the issues faced by refugees around the world. These two new programs are a product of the benchmarks set out by theUnited Nations Millennium Development Goals.
The UNHCR works in different regions of the world to raise awareness about the refugee crisis and the needs of these refugees.
Since 2009, the UNHCR acknowledged a large presence of migration and refugees in theCaribbean, where the refugee crisis remained largely unreported.[19] The issue stems from refugees who, instead of applying to the U.N., improperly search for asylum in the United States, ultimately failing to reach their destination and remaining in the Caribbean.[20] However, migrant laws in some of these nations lacked any protections forasylum seekers, including the ability to be recognized as such.[19] In response, the UNHCR organized talks with these nations inCosta Rica in 2009,[20] seeking to address the lack of protections for refugees and their prosecution as unauthorized migrants.[19] A refugee seeker applies through the U.N. for placement, and an asylum seeker applies within the Country in which asylum is sought. This is why some Countries label refugees as illegal when they did not apply through the U.N. for placement and entered the country unlawfully.
In 2007, UNHCR offices in Canada launched an aggressive media campaign to shed light on the plight of refugees.[21] This campaign was meant to humanize the refugee crisis by showing refugees living in the midst of disturbing conditions. Using emotional appeals to raise public awareness, the campaign hoped to increase the interest of particularly "30 to 45-year-old professionals who are generally well educated, well-read, but have not had direct experience or knowledge of refugee issues",[21] according to fund-raising officer Jonathan Wade.
In Ireland, the UNHCR works to inform the public through different channels. The UNHCR in Ireland actively pursues media relations.[22] It also holds public events with the aim of informing people about current refugee crises. One of these is the annual UNHCR/SARI Fair play Football Cup.[22]
The UNHCR was prominent in helping Syrian refugees in Lebanon. When the Lebanese government was unable to withstand the influx of refugees, the UNHCR stepped in and eased the displacement for the refugees mainly by offering food and healthcare. They also helped register the refugees, so they would not be considered illegal in the eyes of the Lebanese government. Many Syrian refugees are also in Jordan.
As UNHCR is a programme governed by theUN General Assembly and theUN Economic and Social Council, it cooperates with many other programs and agencies under the United Nations in order to effectively protect the rights of refugees.
On 19 September 2016, the UN General Assembly hosted the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants, a high-level summit to address large movements of refugees and migrants, with the aim of bringing countries together behind a more humane and coordinated approach.[23] Leaders of theUN High Commissioner for Human Rights,UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women,UN Office on Drugs and Crime, and theWorld Bank were present. The summit addressed the root causes and drive for migration and the necessity of global cooperation. As a result of this summit, the United Nations unveiled a draft set of principles that urge the international community to build on the momentum set by the adoption of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants (2016).[24][25] Specifically, the 20 draft principles focus on human rights; non-discrimination; rescue and assistance; access to justice; border governance; returns; violence; detention; family unity; child migrants; women migrants;right to health; adequate standard of living; decent work; right to education; right to information; monitoring and accountability; migrants’ human rights defenders; data; and international cooperation.[26] The declaration set off a process leading to the negotiation of theGlobal Compact for Migration.
On 28 September 2016, the UNHCR partnered with the UNFood and Agriculture Organization in Tehran for the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees. FAO highlighted the contributions to be made by FAO towards SSAR objectives on livelihood related activities including livestock and fishery initiatives as well as nutritional projects in Iranian schools.
FAO and UNHCR are committed to increasing refugees’ access to livelihood opportunities and reducing dependency on humanitarian aid. Of late, a joint livelihood strategy for South Sudan was launched, looking to address this issue with a clearly defined action plan. The strategy targets both refugees (70%) and local communities (30%) in refugee-hosting areas across the country.[27]
Since 1954, theUNHCR Nansen Refugee Award has been annually awarded to a person or an organization in recognition of outstanding service to the cause of refugees, displaced or stateless people.
Persons of concern include refugees and asylum seekers, people in refugee-like conditions, internally displaced people (IDPs), stateless persons and "others of concern to the UNHCR".[34]
In its Mid-Year Trends report of June 2015, UNHCR described an “unprecedented” 57.9 million people as falling under its mandate, more than double the 21 million recorded on 1 January 2007. The sharp increase was mainly attributed to theSyrian Civil War, "with the outbreak of armed crises or the deterioration of ongoing ones in countries likeAfghanistan,Burundi,Democratic Republic of the Congo,Mali,Somalia,South Sudan and theUkraine contributing to prevailing trends".[34]
At the end of 2024, UNHCR estimated that 123.2 million people around the world were forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, armed conflict, violence, human rights abuses, or other events that severely disrupted public order.[35] Although the number of displaced people worldwide has nearly doubled over the past decade, the pace of growth began to slow during the latter half of 2024.[35] In 2024, progress toward solutions for both refugees and internally displaced persons improved, with 1.6 million refugees returning home — the highest number recorded in over twenty years.[35]
2023's Global Trends report states that 43.4 million refugees fell under the organization's mandate, with 73 percent of refugees originating from just five countries: Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan, Ukraine, and Venezuela.[36]
The UN General Assembly elects High Commissioners every five years. High Commissioners are supported by the "Executive Committee to the High Commissioner's Programme", and he or she has to make annual reports to the UN General Assembly and needs to follow their directives.[38] The current High Commissioner isFilippo Grandi, who has held the post since 1 January 2016.[39] Prior to the establishment of the UNHCR,Fridtjof Nansen was theLeague's High Commissioner for Refugees. The post of High Commissioner has been held by:[40]
After 10 years serving as a Goodwill Ambassador,Angelina Jolie was promoted in 2012 to Special Envoy to the High Commissioner. In this role she represents the UNHCR and High Commissioner Filipo Grandi at the diplomatic level and works to facilitate long-term solutions for people displaced by large-scale crises, such as Afghanistan and Somalia. "This is an exceptional position reflecting an exceptional role she has played for us", said a UNHCR spokesman.[41] In December 2022, Jolie resigned as Special Envoy.[42]
According to some scholars, with time UNHCR left an initial preference for asylum and resettlement policies, tending to prefer repatriation measures of refugees instead. Sometimes, this might have led the agency's bureaucratic apparatus to adopt pathological behaviours.[43]
An example of the latter, according to Barnett and Finnemore, was the handling of the 1995 Rohingyan crisis. At the time, thousands ofRohingyans were fleeing Burma (orMyanmar), seeking shelter in UNHCR camps in Bangladesh. According to some,[who?] UNHCR has been decisive in promoting the repatriation of refugees, althoughNon-Governmental Organizations on the field and the UN were skeptical about better political and security conditions in Burma.[44]
Also, controversies arose on the methods with which the UNHCR staff was conducting surveys in the camps to establish whether refugees were willing to move back to Burma or not.[44]
Sexual exploitation in the aid sector in West Africa
Widespreadsexual exploitation of refugee children by aid workers and peacekeepers in (Liberia,Guinea andSierra Leone) came to light through a joint UNHCR/Save the Children UK report. These findings, discovered unexpectedly during a broader assessment documented 67 allegations implicating 40 aid agencies and several peacekeeping battalions, often involving humanitarian workers and peacekeepers exchanging small quantities of aid for sex with children.[45]
High CommissionerRuud Lubbers was criticised for his handling this. He publicly dismissed the findings, discredited the authors and downplayed the abuses. In an interview on 8 May 2002, he denied the problem even after the network’s own research corroborated the allegations, describing some exploitative relationships as "romances".[46]
In response to the revelations, the UN General Assembly adoptedresolution 57/306, 'Investigation into sexual exploitation of refugees by aid workers in West Africa' in May 2003, requiring the UN to take action at the highest level to tackle such abuses.[47] This was followed by theUN Secretary-General's Bulletin, 'Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse' in October 2003,[48] and the formal endorsement of the Inter-agency Standing Committee's working group on sexual abuse and exploitation, established in June 2002 in response to the report.[49]
In 2021,Howard Adelman noted that since the organization’s founding in 1951, numerous overlapping and competing bodies have emerged. He highlighted that this creates opportunities in the form of inter-organization cooperation, but also challenges in that most of the UNHCR's original role becomes offloaded onto other agencies.[50]
Despite UNHCR being known as an international lead on addressing statelessness, the organization's work with stateless people remains limited. According to UNHCR's own evaluation report from 2021, "the only dedicated training on statelessness within UNHCR is an online self-study module that was developed in 2012 (now out of date) which has been complemented by other ad hoc external training. This patchwork of training and learning support may not be able to ensure growing demands for capacity, and inadequately target staff in different functions and at different levels of responsibility within the organization."[52] According to the same report, UNHCR remains risk-averse in advocating for stateless people, and the organization's communications on statelessness remains poor "due to lack of staff familiarity, perceived complexity of statelessness issues, and staff not having direct contact with stateless populations to help develop a better understanding of their situation."[53]
^abUnited Nations High Commissioner for Refugees."Building Awareness".www.unhcr.ie. Archived fromthe original on 15 December 2016. Retrieved16 November 2016.
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