United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a part of the United Nations. The purpose of this agency is to protect and support refugees when governments or the UN ask for help. The UNHCR helps refugees return home out of their voluntary will, settle locally, or move to a third country according to the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and other international law. The agency's headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. It is a member of the United Nations Development Group chaired by United Nations Development Programme.[1] The UNHCR has won two Nobel Peace Prizes in 1954 and in 1981.[2]

List of High Commissioners

#PhotoHigh CommissionersNationalityTime
Fridtjof Nansen  Norway1922–1927
League of Nations High Commissioner
1 Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart  Netherlands1951–1956
2 Auguste R. Lindt  Switzerland1956–1960
3Félix Schnyder  Switzerland1960–1965
4 Sadruddin Aga Khan  Iran1965–1977
5 Poul Hartling  Denmark1978–1985
6Jean-Pierre Hocké  Switzerland1986–1989
7 Thorvald Stoltenberg  Norway1990
8 Sadako Ogata  Japan1990–2000
9 Ruud Lubbers  Netherlands2001–2005
(Resign due to internal investigation)
10 António Guterres  Portugal2005–2015
11 Filippo Grandi  Italy2016–present

References