UNHCR

Established on 14th of December 1950 to help the displaced Europeans The legal foundation of helping refugees and the basic statute guiding UNHCR's work was adopted on 28 July 1951 First major emergency in 1956

- Outpouring refugees when Soviet forces crushed

the Hungarian Revolution.

Africa's decolonization produced the continent's numerous refugee crises Over the following two decades, UNHCR had to help the displaced people in Asia and Latin America By the end of the century, fresh refugee problems arises in Africa and new wave of refugees in Europe from the series of wars in the Balkans

85 members

MEMBER STATES
To review and approve the agency's programs and budget Advice on international protection And discuss the wide range of other issues with UNHCR and it's intergovernmental and nongovernmental partners.

Meets in Geneva, Switzerland annually

Bureau of the Executive Committee

Chairperson: Her Excellency Ms. Caroline Jane Millar, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations Office at Geneva

Vice-Chairperson: His Excellency Mr. Hisham Badr, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations Office at Geneva

Rapporteur: Ms. Melissa R. Pitotti, Attach, Permanent Mission of the United States of America to the United Nations Office at Geneva

ExCom Membership: Year and Number of Years

1958 2010 2011 25 79 85

UN High Commissioners
10 High Commissioners since 1950

1st High Commissioner

Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart
Dutch journalist and lawyer who died suddenly in the job in 1956 His achievements were recognized when UNHCR was awarded its first Nobel Peace Prize

August
Anot

t
it rland

r journalist from

Hel ed t e , Hungarians as result of t e oviet suppression of t e Hungarian uprising

Flix Schnyder
Another Swiss national

Sadruddin Aga Khan of Iran (1950)

Spent 12 years at the UNHCR helm Also worked for the organization before taking the top job

Poul Hartling
First former Prime Minister to lead the agency out of three His eight-year term was marked by the mass exodus in Indochina and major operations in the Horn of Africa and Central America, as well as for the Afghan refugees in Asia. In his time, UNHCR was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the second time in 1981

JeanJean-Pierre Hock
Another Swiss man was High Commissioner from 1986-89

Thorvald Stoltenberg
A Norwegian Politician

Sadako Ogata
The first female and East Asian High Commissioner for Refugees Led the organization for 10 years Her tem was marked by crises in the Balkans and the Great Lakes and the repatriation of 360,000 refugees to the Cambodia

Rudd Lubbers
Second former prime minister that lead the agency Former Prime Minister of Netherlands

The Current High Commissioner

Antono Guterres
Assigned by the UN General Assembly Re-assigned last year for another 5 years

How Is it Run and Structured

Governed by the UN General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council The ExCom approves the biennial programmes and the corresponding budget These approved programs are presented by the High Commissioner to the Un General Assembly

The agency's mandate is defined by the 1950 UNHCR Statute The UN General Assembly extended the organization's mandate "until the refugee problem is solved" The High Commissioner reports annually to the ECOSOC and the General Assembly on the work of UNHCR

The High Commissioner is responsible for the direction and control of UNHCR He or She directs the work of UNHCR with the assistance of a Deputy High Commissioner and Assistant High Commissioners for Protection and Operations

The agency has a national and international staff of more than 7190 working in 123 countries Most UNHCR operations are in the field Recruitment of new staffs Ensuring their security in dangerous situations to the procurement of everything from medical supplies and bulk food shipments to aircraft charters

Their specific departments mostly based in Geneva headquarters, overseas key areas (operations, protection, external relations, human resources and finances)

Who do they help?

AsylumAsylum-Seekers
an asylum-seeker is someone who says he or she is a refugee, but whose claim has not yet been definitively evaluated. National asylum systems are there to decide which asylum-seekers actually qualify for international protection. Those judged through proper procedures not to be refugees, nor to be in need of any other form of international protection, can be sent back to their home countries.

Children Of the 36.4 million people of concern to UNHCR, almost half are children. They include children who are refugees, asylum seekers and stateless as well as returnee and internally displaced children assisted and protected by UNHCR. The refugee agency is dedicated to addressing the needs of all children of its concern. Together with other organizations, it aims to provide protection, food, water, shelter, health care, education and to ensure their safety, development and well-being.

Internally displaced people

Internally displaced people, or IDPs, are often wrongly called refugees. Unlike refugees, IDPs have not crossed an international border to find sanctuary but have remained inside their home countries. Even if they have fled for similar reasons as refugees (armed conflict, generalized violence, human rights violations), IDPs legally remain under the protection of their own government - even though that government might be the cause of their flight. As citizens, they retain all of their rights and protection under both human rights and international humanitarian law.

People with disabilities People with disabilities are specifically vulnerable to physical, sexual and emotional abuse and may require additional protection. The lack of privacy in some situations, such as a lack of access to latrines and bathing areas, increases the risk of abuse. People with disabilities are very often isolated from community life; they risk being left behind when those around them flee and may face difficulties accessing family tracing programmes.

Women In any refugee population, approximately 50 percent of the uprooted people are women and girls. Stripped of the protection of their homes, their government and often their family structure, females are often particularly vulnerable. They face the rigours of long journeys into exile, official harassment or indifference and frequent sexual abuse - even after reaching an apparent place of safety. Internally displaced women often suffer similar experiences.

Men Males are often most directly affected by the armed conflicts which provoke refugee movements. They are at risk of forced recruitment into armies and militia groups and often experience a serious loss of self-esteem as a result of the way that gender roles change when households and communities go into exile and become recipients of international assistance. In urban environments, refugee men and boys are often threatened with detention and exploitation, especially in countries where they are officially banned from entering the labour market.

Returnees For many people forced from their homes, a voluntary return home in safety and dignity marks the successful end to the trauma. Of the other "durable solutions" that UNHCR seeks for refugees, only a minority have the opportunity to be resettled to third countries or to be locally integrated into their host societies. Over the years, UNHCR has managed numerous large-scale voluntary repatriation programmes that brought many millions of refugees home.

Refugees a refugee is more narrowly defined as a person who "owing 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 his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country".

Stateless people Statelessness occurs for a variety of reasons including discrimination against minority groups in nationality legislation, failure to include all residents in the body of citizens when a state becomes independent (state succession) and conflicts of laws between states.

Statelessness is a massive problem that affects an estimated 12 million people worldwide. Statelessness also has a terrible impact on the lives of individuals. Possession of nationality is essential for full participation in society and a prerequisite for the enjoyment of the full range of human rights.

What do they do?

Advocacy
A cornerstone of protection strategies (information dissemination, monitoring and negotiation) These can help transform policies and services on national, regional or global levels to better protect people for whom UNHCR bears responsibility

Assistance
Provide life-saving emergency assistance

Asylum and Migration

UNHCR stresses the need for practical protection safeguards to ensure that international crimes are not applied in a disproportionate manner And do not lead to refugees' being returned to countries where their life or liberty would at risk

Emergency preparedness and response

UNHCR has assembled teams of people with a wide range of key skills who are ready for deployment anywhere in the world at a moment's notice Also established long-standing agreements with freight forwarders and logistics companies, and developed a global network of suppliers, specialist agencies and partners

Capacity building
Geared towards strengthening national authorities, laws and policies to ensure the proper handling of refugee and asylum issues, etc.

Environment
UNHCR develops and supports a range of field projects that help reduce or overcome some of the damage caused by humanitarian operations

Protection
Ensures t e asic uman rights of uprooted or stateless people in their countries of asylum hey also seek to provide at least a minimum of shelter, food, ater and medical care

Durable solutions
There are three solutions open to refugees where UNHCR can help: Voluntary repatriation Local integration Resettlement to a third country in situations where Ito s impossible for a person to go back home or remain in the host country

FundFund-raising
UNHCR get important contributions from nongovernmental organizations and the private sector UNHCR must compete with other humanitarian agencies for a limited amount of humanitarian funding

Global Needs Assessment

It is a blueprint for planning and action and allows donors to have a very accurate picture of what is needed and the impact of their support