The Division of External Relations (DER) is responsible for mobilizing political and financial support for UNHCR. It is also tasked with supporting the Office's governing bodies and maintaining relations with a range of partners in the UN system and NGO sector.

In 2006, as part of the structural and management change process, DER initiated a review of its divisional strategy, through a diagnostic analysis of the Division's roles and responsibilities, an opinion research survey and a Field reference questionnaire. The diagnostic phase identified the areas that DER needs to improve: to work more collaboratively with the regional bureaux and other divisions in UNHCR; to provide a greater level of support and capacity building to the Field; to develop an integrated approach to communications and fund raising; to focus on target audiences for greater impact; to articulate and be accountable for clear performance targets; and to reallocate resources according to priorities. The process has enabled DER to begin to put the building blocks in place to ensure its work achieves UNHCR's goals. The Division now has a set of strategic objectives that clearly define its role and mission, which will serve as a basis for the work of DER for the period 2007-2009.

The Donor Relations and Resource Mobilization Service (DRRMS) is the focal point for relations with UNHCR's governmental donor community. The Service seeks to provide donors with a clear understanding of UNHCR's objectives, resource requirements and information on all other issues which might affect donors' funding decisions. DRRMS assists both the Field and headquarters units to generate the information needed for this purpose. At the same time, DRRMS provides feedback to senior management and operational colleagues on donors' concerns and views on UNHCR's operations and policies.

The Service coordinates the preparation of the annual Global Appeal, the Mid-Year Financial Report and the Global Report. These are the key documents that generate the funds and resources needed for UNHCR's operations worldwide and satisfy the majority of donor reporting requirements. At the end of the year, DRRMS and Secretariat organized the annual Pledging Conference in Geneva.

The Media Relations and Public Information Service (MRPIS) provides news, information and visibility materials through a variety of activities carried out by its individual sections (Media Unit, Print Publications, Electronic Publications, Video/Audio, Mass Information and Visibility/Distribution).

The UNHCR public website www.unhcr.org, produced and maintained by the MRPIS Electronic Publishing Unit, remains one of the pillars of the Office's public information strategy. In 2006 the UNHCR English language website for the first time registered over 17 million "page hits" (individual web pages opened), an average of 1.42 million page hits per month. The total number of visitors to the main UNHCR English language website in 2006 was up by 750,000 – to 6.6 million versus 5.75 million in 2005. An average of 549,000 people visited the main UNHCR website monthly in 2006, peaking at 796,000 in November. The French language website, which was re-launched by MRPIS in April 2005, saw a nearly three-fold increase in monthly visitors in 2006 – from 12,400 per month in 2005 to 35,700 in 2006.

The Private Sector and Public Affairs Service (PSPA) continued to raise awareness and funds for UNHCR's global refugee programmes in 2006. The main aim of these activities was to continue expanding the Organization's funding base and to educate the general public about the needs of refugees.

In 2006, the Private Sector Fundraising Service was comprised of two units: the International Fundraising Unit and the Corporate and Foundation Fundraising Unit. The Service supported UNHCR's priority private sector fundraising operations through national associations and some UNHCR representations. Responsibilities of the International Fundraising Unit included: providing strategic oversight of UNHCR's direct investment; technical expertise, as well as further development of both off and online appeals; a new monthly-giving appeal (the "ERTeam") and the launch of the Fundraising Knowledge Centre, which aims to share best practices through UNHCR's private sector fundraising network. The Corporate and Foundation Fundraising Unit focused on further developing UNHCR's corporate partnerships, coordinating the UNHCR Council of Business Leaders, and launching a new global campaign ninemillion.org with the support of Nike and Microsoft. It also expanded its work to include several new foundation partners, and secured a new partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Secretariat and Inter-Organization Service (SIOS) supports the work of UNHCR's Executive Committee (ExCom) and acts as focal point for the Office's relations with a wide range of both United Nations and other international organizations and bodies. In cooperation with UNHCR's office in New York, SIOS furthermore drafts and coordinates inputs into the proceedings of UN governance bodies such as the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The Head of the Service is supported by two Units, Secretariat and the Inter-Organization Desk, and currently serves as Secretary to ExCom.

The NGO Liaison Unit's overall aim is to promote more effective cooperation with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to achieve tangible results for the protection of people of concern to UNHCR. The Unit serves as a bridge between NGOs and UNHCR, primarily at a strategic level, and wherever possible, with a focus on operations.

In pursuit of its aim, the Unit provided information on UNHCR-NGO cooperation in order to strengthen the Office's institutional knowledge of NGOs; to promote more effective communication so as to move beyond the implementing partner arrangement to more tangible relations; and to emphasize greater operational cooperation with NGOs in order to meet the needs of refugees and others of concern to the Office in a more efficient manner.

The Records and Archives Section is responsible for the management and preservation of UNHCR's current and historical records in audio-visual, electronic and paper format. In response to requests for information, archival records are made available to legal, academic and other researchers.

The Library and Visitors Centre provides easy access to comprehensive refugee-related information, documentation and literature, and ensures the efficient functioning of reference services to meet the information needs of UNHCR staff, external researchers and others.

Source: UNHCR Global Report 2006. For more details, see chapter Headquarters (pdf).