Role of UNHRC in India: UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution.
We lead international action to protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people.
Their vision is a world where every person forced to flee can build a better future.
Formally known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR was established by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1950 in the aftermath of the Second World War to help the millions of people who had lost their homes.
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UNHCR works
Today, UNHCR works in 136 countries. We provide life-saving assistance, including shelter, food, water and medical care for people forced to flee conflict and persecution, many of whom have nobody left to turn to. We defend their right to reach safety and help them find a place to call home so they can rebuild their lives. Long term, we work with countries to improve and monitor refugee and asylum laws and policies, ensuring human rights are upheld.
In everything we do UNHCR considers refugees and those forced to flee as partners, putting those most affected at the centre of planning and decision-making.
UNHCR is mandated by the United Nations to protect and safeguard the rights of refugees. We also support former refugees who have returned to their home country, people displaced within their own country, and people who are stateless or whose nationality is disputed.
They are guided by and act as the guardian of the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol.
Also Read: Role of UNHRC in Safeguarding Human Rights
Protecting people forced to flee
Every year, millions of people are forced to flee their homes to escape conflict and persecution and cannot return without risking their lives, safety or freedom.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is there for them at every stage of the refugee and displacement journey, from the beginning of a crisis, through the months and often years that they are displaced from their homes.
We deliver life-saving aid and protection in emergencies, advocate for improved asylum laws and systems so displaced people can access their rights and help find long-term solutions so they can return home once safe to do so or build a future in a new country.
We also work to ensure that stateless people are granted a nationality so they can access basic rights, such as education and health care.
Respond to emergencies
When people are forced to flee, speed is critical. Refugees often arrive across a border traumatized, hungry and exhausted, with little more than the clothes on their backs.
UNHCR works to ensure they can reach safety and are not returned to situations where their lives or freedom would be in danger. This is the core principle of the 1951 Refugee Convention, which forms the legal basis of our work.
We help people displaced from their homes settle in a safe place, far from conflict or those trying to harm them, rapidly deliver life-saving supplies and mobilize expert staff to protect them. We ensure they have shelter, food, water, access to medical care and help to find missing family members.
Protect human rights
Governments normally guarantee the basic human rights and security of their citizens, but when people are forced to flee and become refugees they can no longer rely on this safety net.
UNHCR works to protect refugees, displaced and stateless people by advocating for their rights. We work with governments and partners to advise on and strengthen laws and national systems and help provide services.
Through this we help ensure displaced people can access documentation, education, work and health care. We also work to ensure stateless people achieve their right to a nationality.
Bringing about positive changes on national, regional and global levels can take years, but we accomplish it with the help of lawyers, judges, civil society organizations, politicians and students.
Build better futures
Employment, education and a safe place to call home mean refugees can begin to rebuild their lives.
UNHCR helps refugees find employment so they can support themselves and their families with dignity and contribute their skills to host communities. We also help children and young people access education, giving them a sense of normalcy and safeguarding their future. Through this, we try to ensure the talents and potential of displaced people do not go to waste.
Seeking long-term solutions for refugees is central to our mandate. Once it is safe to do so, we help families and individuals return to their homeland. For those who cannot return because of continued conflict, war or persecution, UNHCR helps them to settle and make a positive contribution in a third country or integrate into a host country.
Source: https://www.unhcr.org/
In emergencies, UNHCR is there for people forced to flee.
No one plans to become a refugee. However, currently 122.6 million people are displaced worldwide, forced to flee to escape conflict, persecution, or other humanitarian crises.
Often they must flee with little more than the clothes they are wearing and the few belongings they can carry in their arms.
For over 70 years, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has been there to keep them safe.
Today, we work in 136 countries and assist millions of people in emergency situations every year, including refugees, internally displaced and stateless people.
When a crisis unfolds, we rush life-saving supplies, humanitarian experts and funds to the emergency. We strive to protect people from harm and ensure they can reach safety.
We are there throughout the initial crisis and we stay long after the headlines have moved on.
But we cannot do this alone. Your support is crucial to providing life-saving assistance to refugees.