Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, The

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, The (UNHCR), a subsidiary organ of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, created for the purpose of providing international legal protection for refugees and finding lasting solutions to their problems, which often include homelessness, sickness or other medical disorders, and mental trauma. The office was established on January 1, 1951, by a resolution of the General Assembly. Before its establishment, the identification, registration, classification, care, legal protection, repatriation, and resettlement of refugees and displaced people were the responsibility of the International Refugee Organization, a former UN specialized agency.

The UNHCR office is run by a high commissioner, elected by the General Assembly, with the aid of an executive committee. UNHCR provides protection and material assistance to refugees on a purely social, humanitarian, and nonpolitical basis. It has a global mandate, covering all refugees, with the exception of those receiving assistance from other UN agencies and of people displaced within their own country through civil wars or other disturbances. When the office was founded, it was concerned chiefly with problems of European refugees. Since the mid-1950s, however, problems have arisen in Africa, Asia, and Latin America that have led to an increasing number of refugees from these areas, in addition to Europe.

In recognition of its humanitarian activities, UNHCR was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1954 and again in 1981. It has also won numerous other international prizes.