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

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# Photo High Commissioners Nationality Time
  Fridtjof Nansen   Norway 1922–1927
League of Nations High Commissioner
1   Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart   Netherlands 1951–1956
2   Auguste R. Lindt   Switzerland 1956–1960
3 Félix Schnyder   Switzerland 1960–1965
4   Sadruddin Aga Khan   Iran 1965–1977
5   Poul Hartling   Denmark 1978–1985
6 Jean-Pierre Hocké   Switzerland 1986–1989
7   Thorvald Stoltenberg   Norway 1990
8   Sadako Ogata   Japan 1990–2000
9   Ruud Lubbers   Netherlands 2001–2005
(Resign due to internal investigation)
10   António Guterres   Portugal 2005–2015
11   Filippo Grandi   Italy 2016–present
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References

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  1. "UNDG Members". Archived from the original on 2011-05-11. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
  2. "Nobel Laureates Facts – Organizations". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2009-10-13.