United Nations High Commisioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established in 1949 and began its operations in 1951.

Mandate

UNHCR’s goal is to guarantee the fundamental rules accepted by all States concerning the right of individuals to flee their country and seek asylum in another. To this end, it helps States face the administrative, legal, diplomatic, financial, and human problems that are caused by the refugee phenomenon.
UNHCR has several functions:

• To promote the rights of refugees and to monitor the implementation of the Refugee Convention by its States Parties;
• To protect refugees;
• To provide material assistance;
• To provide services to governments to help them solve problems resulting from population movements that are slightly or totally outside UNHCR’s mandate (e.g., internally displaced persons), when requested to do so by the UN Secretary-General or the General Assembly.

UNHCR also works with governments to search for durable solutions for refugees. To protect them, States must grant them a stable and lasting legal status. To this effect, UNHCR favors various forms of voluntary repatriation, integration into the State of asylum, and third country resettlement.