The Ultimate Goal
While UNHCR's primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees, its ultimate goal is to help find durable solutions that will allow the refugees to rebuild their lives in dignity and peace.
There are three solutions open to refugees where UNHCR can help:
-Voluntary repatriation: UNHCR works with the country of origin and host countries to help refugees return home.
-Local integration: Integration of refugees in the host community allows recipients to live in dignity and peace.
-Resettlement: An alternative for those who cannot go home, made possible by UNHCR and governments.
Helping States Boost Their Capacity
Strengthening capacity, a core activity in the area of protection, seeks to help states meet their international legal obligations to protect refugees. Capacity building activities are geared towards strengthening national authorities, laws and policies to ensure the proper handling of refugee and asylum issues, the reception and care of refugees, the promotion of self-reliance of refugees and the realisation of durable solutions. But the task cannot be accomplished alone. It requires a partnership framework involving host and donor governments, humanitarian assistance and developmental agencies, civil society, including NGOs, together with refugees themselves.
UNHCR helps achieve one or other of these durable solutions for refugees around the world every year. But for several million refugees and a greater number of internally displaced people, these solutions are nowhere in sight. UNHCR has been highlighting these protracted situations in a bid to get movement towards solutions. In many cases, the absence of longer-term solutions aggravates protection problems.
Support UNHCR to find durable solutions for the world’s most vulnerable people
