United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) (established December 14, 1950) protects and supports refugees at the request of a government or the United Nations and assists in their return or resettlement.

It succeeded the earlier International Refugee Organization and the even earlier United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. UNHCR was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1954 and 1981. 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. 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 persons (IDPs) who would fit the legal definition of a refugee under the 1951 Refugee Convention 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 thus has missions in Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Serbia and Montenegro, Sudan, and Côte d'Ivoire to assist and provide services to IDPs.

As of 1 January 2003, it reported a total of 20,556,781 falling under its mandate, including around 5.5m in Europe and North America. As of 31 December 2004, the agency reported a total of 9,236,500 official refugees (excluding an additional 4 million Palestinian refugees) ^*.

As of 2004, the agency has helped an estimated 50 million people restart their lives according to their website. A staff of around 5,000 people in more than 120 countries continues to help some 20 million persons. An official charity album (Voyces United for UNHCR) was released in 2005 to draw attention to the organization.

UNHCR is also represented by UNHCR Goodwill Ambassadors, one of whom is actress Angelina Jolie ^*.

High Commissioners

The post of High Commissioner has been held by:

António Guterres, 2005 - present (term to expire in 2009) (Portugal)
Ruud Lubbers, 2001 - 2005 (the Netherlands)
Sadako Ogata, 1990 - 2000 (Japan)
Thorvald Stoltenberg, January-November 1990 (Norway)
Jean-Pierre Hocké, 1986 - 1989 (Switzerland)
Poul Hartling, 1978 - 1985 (Denmark)
Prince Sadruddhin Aga Khan, 1965 - 1977 (Iran)
Félix Schnyder, 1960 - 1965 (Switzerland)
Auguste R. Lindt, 1956 - 1960 (Switzerland)
Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart, 1951 - 1956 (the Netherlands)

Fridtjof Nansen was the League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from 1922.

External links

"Seoul Train" documentary A critically acclaimed PBS documentary on North Korean refugees (Incite Productions)
Official web site
"Basic facts" from official website
United Nations - Official site
History of the United Nations - UK Government site
"Who is a Refugee and who is not - the Crisis of Identity as a Challenge to Protection" Online video of an address by Ms. Erika Feller, Director, Department of International Protection, UNHCR, in 2005

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High Commissioners

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