UNHCR is nothing if without its people. And over the decades tens of thousands of people have helped alleviating the sorrows that the refugees and stateless people have to endure. These people include:
The High Commissioner
The incumbent High Commissioner for Rufugees, Mr. António Guterres started his service on June 15, 2005, succeeding Ruud Lubbers of the Netherlands. A former Portuguese prime minister, Guterres was elected by the UN General Assembly to a five-year term and is the UN refugee agency's 10th High Commissioner.
As High Commissioner, he heads one of the world's principal humanitarian agencies. UNHCR has twice won the Nobel Peace Prize and its 6,600 staff members currently work in more than 110 countries providing protection and assistance to some 34 million refugees and others of concern. More than 80 percent of its staff works in the field, often in difficult and dangerous duty stations.
Before joining UNHCR, Guterres spent more than 20 years in government and public service. He served as Portuguese prime minister from 1996 to 2002, during which he was strongly involved in the international effort to resolve the crisis in East Timor. As president of the European Council in early 2000, he led the adoption of the so-called Lisbon Agenda and co-chaired the first European Union-Africa summit. He also founded the Portuguese Refugee Council in 1991, and was part of the Council of State of Portugal from 1991 to 2002.
From 1981 to 1983, Guterres was a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, as well as chairman of the Committee on Demography, Migration and Refugees. In addition, he has been active in Socialist International, acting as the organization's vice-president from 1992 to 1999 before taking over as its president until June 2005.
Guterres was born on April 30, 1949, in Lisbon and educated at the Instituto Superior Técnico, where he is an invited professor. He is married and has two children.
Good-Will Ambassadors
 Angelina Jolie, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador |
Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani and American actress Angelina Jolie, who has visited more than 20 countries since being appointed a Goodwill Ambassador in 2001, have a truly global reach. Others such as Turkish singer Muazzez Ersoy, Spanish TV presenter Jesus Vazquez, Argentinian soap star Osvaldo Laport and Julien Clerc of France have a loyal national and regional following. Meanwhile Greek musician George Dalaras and Egyptian stage and screen star Adel Imam continues to straddle the international and national arenas, while acclaimed soprano Barbara Hendricks continues to bring enormous influence and experience as UNHCR's only Lifetime Goodwill Ambassador.
Past UNHCR Goodwill Ambassadors include actors Richard Burton and James Mason, Italian screen legend Sophia Loren, Princess Märtha Louise of Norway, and musician Riccardo Muti.
UNHCR Supporters
Aside from its pool of high-profile Goodwill Ambassadors, UNHCR has a wide range of supporters and collaborators around the world, ranging from royalty and celebrities to students, academics and ordinary members of the public, including some 80,000 monthly donors who contributed more than US$12.6 million to UNHCR in 2008. The agency even works with a cartoon superhero.
The relationship between UNHCR and these supporters is less formal and much more flexible than the arrangement with Goodwill Ambassadors. Many of our offices around the world team up with local celebrities for prolonged campaigns or one-off events.
Best-selling author and former refugee Khaled Hosseini has formed a special link with our office in the United States, which has seen him join World Refugee Day events and travel to his native Afghanistan and to Chad to raise awareness about refugees and returnees.
Fellow American, actor Ben Affleck, directed a short film about uprooted Congolese civilians for UNHCR's "Gimme Shelter" campaign. It was accompanied by the classic Rolling Stones track of the same name, thanks to permission from Sir Mick Jagger and ABCKO Records.
In the world of sports, Chicago Bulls basketball player Luol Deng has been supporting UNHCR's ninemillion.org campaign, which raises funds to provide education and sports activities for millions of young refugees around the world. The lanky star fled his native South Sudan as a child and ended up as a refugee in England.
And in South Korea, UNHCR has joined forces with an immensely popular animated cartoon character - Robot Taekwon V - to spread awareness about the forcibly displaced.
Not all our supporters are international celebrities; but many of our collaborators are well known in particular regions or countries and help to raise awareness and funding in such areas. Some travel to refugee camps and tell of their experiences.
For the most part, our supporters are ordinary citizens: volunteers and students who help arrange activities on World Refugee Day and at other times of the year, teachers, academics who debate and write on refugee issues, prominent former refugees and many others.“Until other solutions are found ... it is essential that the international community help UNHCR to provide financial and food support.”
– UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie
Support UNHCR’s work to help the world’s most vulnerable people
