Around the World in Many Ways
UNHCR staff operate in some 120 countries around the world, from major capitals to remote, difficult locations where our field staff are directly helping the most vulnerable victims of displacement.
We maintain offices in donor countries worldwide and wherever refugees are arriving, working closely with governments to ensure the 1951 Refugee Convention is honoured. Staff at the Geneva headquarters now number just over 11 percent of our total, a declining portion as UNHCR moves to decentralize and get closer to the people we assist.
Geneva, along with our Global Service Centre in Budapest, Hungary, provides support for the rest of UNHCR, including key administrative functions. But about 80 percent of staff are in the field.
The largest portion of staff are based in countries in Asia and Africa, the continents that both host and generate the most refugees and internally displaced people. Many are in isolated locations where staff work in difficult – and often dangerous – conditions.
Among our biggest operations are Afghanistan, Chad, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan, Iraq and surrounding countries, and the Sudan. But we also have substantial operations in many other countries around the world.