The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a Winner of the 2016 Global Sustainable Development Award and Accredited as a Global 500 Sustainable Development Agencies of the year 2016 in appreciation of its contribution towards social-economic development of the world and its contribution towards attainment of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Recognised for its commitment to attain Sustainable Peace and development through Protecting and supporting refugees around the World. Awarded and Accredited by Public Opinions International (Uganda-East Africa) AND Organisation for International Friends of Africa (OIFA).
Public Opinions International is a Partner and Member of International Organisation for Educational Development (IOED)andInternational Police Commission which is is duly registered as an international Non-Profit, Non-Secretarial, Peacekeeping and Social Development Paramilitary Organization based in the State of California, United States of America with extension commands in member nations of the U.N.The International Police Commission has also been given the Consultative Status from the UN ECOSOC and it is also a Member of the United Nations Office of the Drugs and Crimes “UNODC.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), also known as the UN Refugee Agency, is a United Nations programme 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. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is a member of the United Nations Development Group.The UNHCR has won two Nobel Peace Prizes, once in 1954 and again in 1981.
UNHCR was established on 14 December 1950 and succeeded the earlier United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. 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.
UNHCR’s mandate has gradually been expanded to include protecting and providing humanitarian assistance to whom it describes as other persons “of concern,” including internally displaced persons (IDPs) who would fit the legal definition of a refugee under the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization for African Unity Convention, or some other treaty if they left their country, but who presently remain in their country of origin. UNHCR presently has major missions in Lebanon, South Sudan, Chad/Darfur, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Afghanistan as well as Kenya to assist and provide services to IDPs and refugees in camps and in urban settings.
To achieve its mandate, the UNHCR engaged in activities both in the countries of interest and in countries with donors. For example, the UNHCR hosts expert roundtables to discuss issues of concern to the international refugee community.
FIGURES AT GLANCE
We are now witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record.
An unprecedented 65.3 million people around the world have been forced from home. Among them are nearly 21.3 million refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18.
There are also 10 million stateless people who have been denied a nationality and access to basic rights such as education, healthcare, employment and freedom of movement.
In a world where nearly 34,000 people are forcibly displaced every day as a result of conflict or persecution, our work at UNHCR is more important than ever before.
We are funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions, with 86 per cent from governments and the European Union. Six per cent comes from other inter-governmental organizations and pooled funding mechanisms, while a further six per cent is from the private sector, including foundations, corporations and the public. Additionally, we receive a limited subsidy (two per cent) from the UN budget for administrative costs, and accept in-kind contributions, including items such as tents, medicines and trucks.
UNHCR was launched on a shoestring annual budget of US$ 300,000 in 1950. But as our work and size have grown, so too have the costs. Our annual budget rose to more than US$ 1 billion in the early 1990s and reached a new annual high of US$ 5.3 billion in 2013.
Our yearly budget includes programmes that support continuing operations and supplementary programmes to cover emergencies, such as the Syria crisis or large-scale repatriation operations.
Statistics and operational data
Our accurate, relevant and timely data and statistics are crucial to refugee operations. This key resource is used by all partners to respond to the needs of refugee populations.
UNHCR’s Statistics Database provides data, reports and other information essential for field operations. It also carries statistical reports on people of concern – refugees, asylum seekers, returned refugees, the internally displaced and stateless people. Detailed information on country of asylum, place of origin, gender, age, location and legal status of refugees is available. Indicators on the quality of refugee protection and UNHCR operations are increasingly being collected.
Public Opinions International
Organisation for International Friends of Africa (OIFA)
Plot 30 Suite 5, Level 4 Green Land Tower
Opposite Bank of Uganda Kampala Road
P.o Box 35297 Kampala-Uganda
Tel: 256 701 992 426
Email:[email protected]
Web: www.pubopinions.org