Established in 1950 to help European refugees displaced by WW II, UNHCR won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1954.
It’s mission was extended in 1956, as it dealt with a flow of Hungarian refugees escaping the Soviet crushing of the Hungarian Revolution.
In the 1960s, Africa’s decolonization produced the first of that continent’s numerous refugee crises.
Over the following two decades, UNHCR dealt with several crises in Asia and Latin America.
In 1981, UNHCR had already received a second Nobel Peace Prize, this time in recognition of its global impact.
By the end of the 20th century, refugee problems re-emerged in Africa and Europe.
UNHCR began the new millennium managing major refugee crises in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and Afghanistan. In the meantime, its role expanded to helping those internally displaced by conflicts, as well as millions of stateless people.
In 2015, we celebrated our 65th anniversary. During our lifetime, we have helped well over 50 million refugees to successfully restart their lives.
Today, our organization is still hard at work, protecting and assisting refugees around the world.