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What We Do
Help the Uprooted and Stateless
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. 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.
In more than five decades, the agency has helped people restart their lives. Today, a staff of some 7,685 people in more than 125 countries continues to help some 33.9 million persons.
Protection
The protection of millions of uprooted or stateless people is UNHCR's core mandate.
Emergency Response
UNHCR is committed to increasing its ability to respond to complex emergency situations.
Assistance
From life-saving aid to help with shelter, health, water, education and more.
Durable Solutions
Voluntary repatriation, local integration, resettlement, the three key solutions.
Environment
How UNHCR and partners seek to minimize the environmental impact of refugee operations.
Millennium Development Goals
Refugees, asylum seekers, IDPs and the Millenium Development Goals
