About UNHCR
The UN Refugee Agency
Who We Are
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution. We lead international action to protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people.
Our Mission
We work to ensure that everybody has the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge, having fled violence, persecution, war or disaster at home. Since 1950, we have faced multiple crises on multiple continents, and provided vital assistance to refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced and stateless people, many of whom have nobody left to turn to.
Our History
UNHCR was created in 1950 to help millions of Europeans who had fled or lost their homes during World War II. We had three years to complete our work and then disband. Today, over 70 years later, our organization is still hard at work, protecting and assisting refugees around the world.
Key Facts
- Established: December 14, 1950
- Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
- Nobel Peace Prizes: 1954, 1981
- Staff: Over 20,000 in 137 countries
- People of Concern: 117.3 million worldwide
