Agenda: The role of host countries: The cost and impact of hosting refugees
Excutive Committe of UN High Commission for Refugees
The Office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. It is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country. Headquartered at Geneva, Switzerland the agency is mandated to lead and coordinate 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.. Several new programs have been introduced to support and to heighten awareness of the issues faced by refugees around the world. The new programs are a product of the benchmarks set out by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. In more than six decades, the agency has helped tens of millions of 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 who have been displaced from their native country.
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.. Several new programs have been introduced to support and to heighten awareness of the issues faced by refugees around the world. The new programs are a product of the benchmarks set out by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. In more than six decades, the agency has helped tens of millions of 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 who have been displaced from their native country.