Last updated July 2018

Introduction

In 1982, UNHCR issued an Operations Manual governing the organizational relationships within UNHCR Headquarters and between Headquarters and the Field. The following year, the Operations Manual was consolidated as a chapter in a new comprehensive UNHCR Manual, which provided guidance and operating procedures for UNHCR staff, being called Chapter Two.

Since then, Chapter Two has been revised repeatedly to incorporate changes in organizational structure, and set forth the relationship amongst entities in Headquarters and the Field, including an understanding of respective accountabilities.

ODMS prepares and issues these updated versions with the direct input of senior management and their teams, for each entity set forth within the document. ODMS is grateful for this collaboration.

Chapter Two was last updated by ODMS in late 2017. Since that time, a new Division has been created (the Division for Resilience and Solutions) and a number of existing Divisions have been reshaped.

Today, UNHCR is in the midst of a period of substantial and potentially transformative change, including with the emergence of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework and the forthcoming Global Compact on Refugees.  Inspired by the concerns of Representatives, the High Commissioner launched a Headquarters Review process in late 2016, and appointed a Director for Change in early 2017. Under the Director’s lead, UNHCR is now re-examining and re-designing fundamental concepts of decentralization, regionalization, resource allocation and accountability, amongst others, in our organization.

During periods of substantial change, effective communication is ever more important, especially in a large organization with a workforce spread throughout the globe.  

This update provides the best available information regarding the organizational structure of UNHCR as of 1 July 2018.  The next update of Chapter Two--or a successor document in another format--will no doubt also be significantly different, reflecting changes now being discussed and considered.

Organizational Structure and Accountability within UNHCR

UNHCR is formally known as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: the High Commissioner is ultimately accountable for the activities and achievements of UNHCR and all of us within. The High Commissioner delegates accountabilities and related authorities along a combined functional and geographical grid to the Deputy High Commissioner, the two Assistant High Commissioners, and onward to Directors, Heads of Services, Regional and Country Representatives, as well as each member of the UNHCR workforce. Ideally, this delegation is done through a minimum of supervisory layers, with strong managerial and functional controls, to ensure that activities comply with established policies and procedures and that resources are used to their best effect for refugees and others of concern to UNHCR.

An effective system of accountability requires a culture of accountability underpinned by a shared understanding of the concept. In UNHCR, the corporate definition of the term accountability is:

A commitment to deliver results for refugees and other persons of concern within a framework of transparency, agreed feasibility, delegated authority and available resources.

This definition is anchored in our context: the dependency of populations of concern on international protection and humanitarian action creates a power imbalance that requires UNHCR to put in place a system of checks and balances. Simultaneously, UNHCR retains an obligation to stakeholders to account for how we use the financial, political and material resources we receive as well as for the professional and ethical conduct of our staff and funded partners.

Today, UNHCR's organizational structure embodies a combination of substantive, geographical and functional Accountabilities, Responsibilities and Authorities (ARAs), which are currently mapped at three basic levels:

- ARAs for the global level for Headquarters entities, including Regional Bureaux and global out-posted services;

- ARAs at the regional level for Regional Offices; and

- ARAs at the country level for Country Offices.

Anchored in our corporate understanding of accountability as a comprehensive concept extending broadly beyond any one document, there are a number of key elements necessary to maintain and further strengthen effective accountability in UNHCR:

1)     A precise definition of ARAs across organizational entities, specifically;

-  Accountabilities are the key results we aim to achieve;

-  Responsibilities are the processes we follow to achieve results; and

-  Authorities are the decisions we are allowed to make in executing our responsibilities and in achieving our results.

2)     A given accountability must correspond to the adequate level of authority and vice versa: linked to this, there must be a firm understanding of how authorities relate to the Global Strategic Priorities and the Global Strategic Directions of the Organization;

3)     An ensuing shared understanding and agreement on Terms of Reference among related entities and staff, most prominently those in a supervisory relationship;

4)     Shared working ethics, whereby accountability is a commitment to overcome obstacles and take initiatives to achieve results, provided that resources and authorities are available and proportionate to the stated accountability;

5)     Transparency of relationships inherent to discharging ARAs, particularly, power relationships within the Organization, towards partners and persons of concern;

6)     Transparency towards donors and host states as well as other resource providers;

7)     Effective delegation of authority and accountability throughout the seniority line; and

8)     Empowerment and participation of persons of concern in defining operational objectives and modalities as well as subsequent evaluation of impacts and results.

As noted in the Introduction, UNHCR is currently in the midst of a period of extraordinary change, including re-examining our current concepts of organizational structure, accountability (including ARAs), and processes. Information within this Chapter Two is current as of 1 July 2018, but substantial segments are expected to change during the second half of 2018 and in 2019.