The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Refugee Agency, is mandated to protect and assist men, women and children forced to flee their homes due to violence, conflict or persecution.
UNHCR is dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced and stateless people. The Agency provides protection, shelter, food, water, medical care and other life-saving assistance to refugees and asylum-seekers around the world.
The dream of most refugees is to return home. If and where possible, UNHCR helps refugees make this dream a reality. When refugees cannot go back home, we work to find solutions for them, to rebuild their lives in another country. Since its formation by the United Nations General Assembly in 1950, UNHCR has helped millions of refugees restart their lives and has received the Nobel Peace Prize twice.
What we do
UNHCR strives to ensure that asylum-seekers who have fled violence, persecution, war or disaster at home find a safe refuge.
In line with it’s global mandate, UNHCR in Nigeria works to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees and asylum-seekers, refugee returnees, internally displaced people (IDPs) and stateless men, women and children.
Our vision
UNHCR is an organization whose core mandate puts it in permanent social contract with States for the international protection of refugees. The Agency’s workforce ensures that refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other affected populations in Nigeria live in safety and dignity and progressively attain comprehensive and sustainable solutions.
Our mission
UNHCR seeks to reduce situations of forced displacement by encouraging States and other institutions to create conditions that are conducive for the protection of human rights and the peaceful resolution of disputes. To this aim, UNHCR, in all its activities, pays particular attention to the needs of children, promotes the equal rights of women and girls and seeks lasting solutions to the plight of refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other affected populations.