The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is the U.N. agency dedicated to the protection of refugees and other populations displaced by conflict, famine, and natural disasters. This report describes the mandate, operations, and budget of UNHCR. It looks at the challenges facing the organization and issues of concern for Congress. UNHCR provides legal protection, implements long-term solutions, and coordinates emergency humanitarian relief for refugees and other displaced persons. An understanding of UNHCR and its challenges is particularly relevant today with the possibility of war in Iraq, which might create new populations of refugees and other displaced persons, and the continuing refugee situations in Afghanistan and other parts of the world. Issues of particular concern to Congress are funding shortages at UNHCR, burdensharing, and avenues for U.S. influence within UNHCR. Established by the U.N. General Assembly in 1950 and made operational in 1951, UNHCR is mandated to lead and coordinate international action for the protection of refugees and the resolution of refugee problems worldwide. The current High Commissioner is Ruud Lubbers, a former Dutch prime minister, who began his five-year term in January 2001. UNHCR is headquartered in Geneva and employs over 5,000 staff in more than 110 countries. Its governing body, the Executive Committee, approves the High Commissioner's assistance programs, advises the High Commissioner, and oversees UNHCR finances and administration. The Executive Committee meets every year and has 61 members, all of whom are representatives of governments, including the United States. A smaller Standing Committee meets every three or four months. UNHCR is mainly supported by voluntary contributions from governments. Refugees are granted a special status under international law. Once an individual is considered a refugee, that individual automatically has certain rights, and states that are parties to the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951 Convention) and/or its 1967 Protocol are obligated to provide certain resources and protection. UNHCR ensures these rights, works to find permanent solutions for refugees, and coordinates immediate humanitarian assistance. UNHCR was established to help resettle European refugees after World War II, and its mandate reflects this history. It became the institutional mechanism for the implementation of the 1951 Convention. Under the 1951 Convention, a refugee is legally defined as a person fleeing his or her country because of persecution or "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside of the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country." The central rights accorded to refugees are non-rejection of asylum seekers at the border, non-forced repatriation (non-refoulement), admission to safety, access to fair and efficient procedures for determination of refugee status, assurance of the same rights and basic help received by any other foreigner who is a legal resident, and appropriate lasting solutions. The 1951 Convention limits the definition of refugees to those created by events occurring prior to 1951. In response to the emergence of large refugee movements since 1951, the 1967 Protocol incorporates the measures included in the 1951 Convention, but imposes no time or geographical limits. States may be a party to one or both instruments. UNHCR often works with states on national laws to implement provisions of these international treaties and argues that international law overrides other bilateral agreements that may exist. Enforcement of the 1951 Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol remains a challenge. Over time, the U.N. General Assembly has passed resolutions expanding UNHCR's involvement to those escaping armed conflict, generalized violence, foreign aggression, and other circumstances. While UNHCR's mandate is to protect refugees (and by legal definition, refugees have crossed an international border because of persecution or a well-founded fear of being persecuted) it now provides assistance to a broader group known as "persons of concern" to UNHCR. UNHCR estimates as of January 1, 2002, indicate that there are 19.8 million persons of concern worldwide. This category includes refugees, returnees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), asylum seekers, stateless persons, and others. Compared with the year before, this number has decreased by 2 million, as many refugees have returned to their home countries. When refugees begin to return to their home countries, UNHCR often provides assistance to these "returnees" and monitors their well-being. UNHCR may provide transportation, a start-up package (which may contain such items as cash grants, farm tools, and seeds), and assistance rebuilding homes and schools. Monitoring of their well-being rarely continues longer than two years. Unlike refugees who seek asylum outside their country of citizenship, internally displaced persons have not crossed an international border but remain inside their own country. Under international law, IDPs do not have the same protection as refugees. IDPs fall into the gaps between the mandates of different agencies. By default, UNHCR has provided assistance and some protection to IDPs, but it has argued that it lacks the capacity and resources to cope systematically with the needs of IDPs in addition to its refugee caseload. The plight of this group has gained international recognition as a problem that needs to be addressed. There are other groups requiring assistance. Asylum seekers are people who flee their home country and seek sanctuary in a second state. They apply for asylum—which is the right to be recognized as a refugee—and receive legal protection and material assistance. UNHCR helps these asylum seekers, whose formal status has not yet been determined. In addition to asylum seekers, there are other refugee-like populations. For example, UNHCR assists stateless persons, such as those from the former Soviet Union who have not been able to obtain citizenship in any of the former republics. UNHCR has three main functions. First, it provides legal protection to those who fall within its mandate. Governments establish procedures to determine refugee status and related rights in accordance with their own legal systems. UNHCR offers advice and non-binding guidelines to these governments. In countries, which are not party to international refugee treaties but request UNHCR assistance, UNHCR may determine refugee status and offer its own protection and assistance. Second, UNHCR seeks permanent solutions to refugee situations. In general, there are three solutions for refugees: 1) voluntary repatriation, 2) local integration in the country of first asylum, and 3) resettlement from the country of first asylum to a third country. UNHCR prefers voluntary repatriation, whereby refugees return to their home countries. If repatriation is impossible, then UNHCR seeks either local integration or, if this is impossible, resettlement in a third country. Third, UNHCR also coordinates numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that provide emergency humanitarian relief to refugees. This relief includes shelter, food, and basic medical care. UNHCR also carries out a variety of other activities. For example, in the past UNHCR has provided training for border guards on how to handle refugee situations, developed an intergovernmental emergency response team for greater integration and coordination, and resolved particularly sensitive situations between governments and those seeking asylum. Some of these situations involved behind-the-scene negotiations and discussions. As humanitarian crises became more complex through the 1990s, UNHCR began working with a wider number and variety of organizations. Within the U.N. system, UNHCR works most closely with the World Food Program (WFP), the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.N. Development Program (UNDP), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. UNHCR also coordinates with international organizations (IOs), such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and NGOs such as the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). UNHCR works with over 500 NGOs that provide much of the operational support for refugees. In the past decade, UNHCR has dealt with massive population movements, including those from Rwanda, the Balkans, and Afghanistan. Thousands of Afghans have lived for years in refugee camps, partly supported by UNHCR, in Pakistan and Iran. Since September 11, 2001, a reverse situation has taken place as many more Afghans have returned home from Pakistan and Iran than were expected, putting a strain on UNHCR programs and leading to a reduction in the resources provided to these returnees. UNHCR is putting together a contingency plan for Iraq in the event of a war. Currently, while there are a small number of NGOs in Iraq, U.N. agencies provide the bulk of humanitarian assistance in the form of food and medicine. Reportedly, the United Nations estimates that over 60 percent of 24 million people in Iraq receive monthly food distributions. Depending on its scope and duration, war could create a humanitarian emergency with large population movements across borders or within Iraq itself. UNHCR depends almost entirely on voluntary contributions to fund its operations. Of UNHCR's budget, 98% comes from voluntary contributions from governments and other donors, such as foundations, corporations, and the public at large. Two per cent comes from the U.N. regular budget and covers administrative personnel costs in the Geneva headquarters. Nearly 95% of the total contributions to UNHCR come from 15 donors (14 governments and the European Union).