Level 8 of 10: The UN and global treaty bodies

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) (UNHCR)

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is the United Nations body that leads international action to protect refugees, returnees, internally displaced and stateless people. The UN General Assembly established it on 14 December 1950 with a three-year mandate, and the 1951 Refugee Convention is the legal foundation of its work. It is headquartered in Geneva and operates in more than 125 countries and territories, with about 89 per cent of staff working in the field. UNHCR's Global Trends report, published in June 2026, put forced displacement at 117.8 million people at the end of 2025, the first fall in a decade, including 41.6 million refugees. Barham Salih of Iraq has been High Commissioner since 1 January 2026, elected by the General Assembly on the Secretary-General's nomination for a five-year term.

Who leads it

• High Commissioner for Refugees: Barham Ahmed Salih (Iraq) (since 2026-01-01) (media.un.org)

The UK and the UNHCR

The UK is not among the six countries that host 36 per cent of the world's refugees (Colombia, Germany, Turkey, Uganda, Iran and Chad), according to UNHCR's June 2026 Global Trends briefing. The UN pages reviewed do not describe the UK's seat on UNHCR's Executive Committee or its funding, so check UNHCR's own pages for those.

Key figures

What it decides

• Protection and assistance for refugees, returnees, internally displaced people and stateless people.
• Lead agency for protecting refugees and internally displaced people.
• Co-leads camp coordination and camp management with the International Organization for Migration.
• Shares the lead on emergency shelter with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
• Sets targets such as '50 by 35', to halve the number of aid-dependent refugees in protracted displacement by 2035.
• Promotes return, relocation, humanitarian visas, resettlement and family reunification as durable solutions.
• Calls on states to uphold non-refoulement under the Refugee Convention, which reaches its 75th year in 2026.

Timeline

• 1950-12-14: The UN General Assembly establishes UNHCR with a three-year mandate. (un.org)
• 1951-07-28: The Convention relating to the Status of Refugees is adopted. (un.org)
• 1954: UNHCR receives its first Nobel Peace Prize. (un.org)
• 1981: UNHCR receives its second Nobel Peace Prize. (un.org)
• 2025-12-18: The General Assembly elects Barham Salih High Commissioner. (media.un.org)
• 2026-01-01: Salih takes office for a five-year term. (media.un.org)
• 2026-06-09: UNHCR publishes Global Trends for 2025, reporting 117.8 million forcibly displaced. (media.un.org)

How it is held to account

• The High Commissioner is elected by the UN General Assembly on the Secretary-General's nomination for a five-year term (UN Web TV, December 2025).
• UNHCR publishes an annual Global Trends report with figures on displacement, returns and statelessness.
• UNHCR publishes situation pages, dashboards and datasets under a CC BY 4.0 licence on its operational data portal.
• The agency was created by, and works under, the UN General Assembly (UN refugees page).
• The UN pages reviewed do not describe UNHCR's audit, evaluation or Executive Committee arrangements; those are on UNHCR's own site, which could not be opened.

Records you can check

• UN: Refugees
  UNHCR's founding, mandate and headline numbers
• UNRIC: Global forced displacement 2025
  Global Trends 2025 figures on returns, refugees and statelessness
• UN Web TV: Global Trends press conference
  Refugee figures and hosting countries, 9 June 2026
• UNHCR Operational Data Portal
  Situation pages, dashboards and factsheets on refugee emergencies
• UN News: High Commissioner profile
  Salih's priorities and the funding squeeze

Common questions

What does UNHCR do?

UNHCR is the UN Refugee Agency. The UN says it is the lead agency for protecting refugees and internally displaced people, providing protection and assistance to refugees, returnees, internally displaced and stateless people. It co-leads camp coordination with IOM and shares the lead on emergency shelter with the IFRC.

How many refugees are there in the world?

UNHCR's Global Trends report, published in June 2026, says 41.6 million people were refugees at the end of 2025, including 35.6 million under UNHCR's mandate and 6 million Palestinian refugees under UNRWA's mandate. The wider total of forcibly displaced people was 117.8 million, down from 123.2 million a year earlier.

Who is the UN High Commissioner for Refugees?

Barham Salih of Iraq, who took office on 1 January 2026. The General Assembly elected him on 18 December 2025, on the Secretary-General's nomination, for a term running to 31 December 2030. He succeeded Filippo Grandi of Italy. UN News notes he was a refugee as a teenager.

When was UNHCR created?

The UN General Assembly established UNHCR on 14 December 1950 with a three-year mandate, and it has continued since. The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, adopted on 28 July 1951, is the legal foundation of its work. It has received the Nobel Peace Prize twice, in 1954 and 1981.

Where are most refugees hosted?

UNHCR says 36 per cent of refugees are hosted by six countries: Colombia, Germany, Turkey, Uganda, Iran and Chad. Nearly two-thirds live in countries neighbouring their own, and more than a quarter are hosted in the world's least developed countries.

What is UNHCR's '50 by 35' goal?

UNHCR says that over the next decade it wants to halve the number of refugees in protracted displacement who depend on humanitarian assistance by 2035. Salih has acknowledged the goal is far beyond UNHCR's current means, and UNHCR calls for expanded return, relocation, humanitarian visa and resettlement options, and for refugees to be included in national education, health and labour systems.

Why did global displacement fall in 2025?

UNHCR reported that forced displacement fell for the first time in a decade, with 14.7 million people returning home in 2025: 4.4 million refugees and 10.3 million internally displaced people. Returns rose sharply in Afghanistan, Sudan and Syria, though UNHCR said many occurred under pressure and in precarious conditions.

Other bodies at level 8

• Commonwealth of Nations
• International Court of Justice
• International Criminal Court
• International Labour Organization
• Interpol
• NATO
• United Nations (General Assembly and Security Council)
• United Nations Children's Fund
• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
• United Nations Human Rights Council
• United Nations Security Council
• World Food Programme
• World Health Organization
• World Trade Organization

Sources

• UN: Refugees (global issues), read 23 October 2026
• Global forced displacement 2025 (UNRIC), read 23 October 2026
• UNHCR Global Trends press conference (UN Web TV), read 23 October 2026
• High Commissioner nomination and election (UN Web TV), read 23 October 2026
• A former refugee takes on a world in flight (UN News), read 23 October 2026
• UNHCR Operational Data Portal, read 23 October 2026