United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is the United Nations agency charged under international law with the international protection of refugees, and working with States to address refugee challenges and seek durable solutions to displacement. It has a supervisory responsibility with respect to the application of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Its international mandate is also derived from the Statute on the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1950. UNHCR’s role in the proposal includes providing advice, participating and co-organising events and facilitating access to evidence and data around UNHCR’s activities and insights in priority countries as relevant to the project’s analysis. The organisation’s international legal mandate for refugee protection, its supervisory role with respect to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and its leading role in drafting and facilitating adoption by the UN General Assembly of the Global Compact on Refugees in December 2018 place it in a unique position to provide insights and strategic analysis of the implementation process, prospects and areas for strengthening international protection, solutions and engagement of states through the Global Compact on Refugees.

Role in ASILE

UNHCR will have a key role in the ASILE project facilitating access to evidence and data on implementation of resettlement and HAPs, as well as contacts for fieldwork (semi-structured interviews) in countries covered by the research. Furthermore, together with CEPS, UNHCR will co-organise two meetings in Geneva (2021 and 2023) coinciding with mid-term review and 2nd Global Refugee Forum where ASILE findings would be presented and discussed. UNHCR will also have an active participation in two Policy Meetings in Brussels (2021 and 2023) where academic findings will be presented to EU policy makers.

The below named senior UNHCR personnel will serve as UNHCR focal points for the project. They have extensive experience in UNHCR in relation to protection, field operations, engagement with external partners, research and analysis as well as extensive involvement in the process of preparation of the Global Compact on Refugees. They will coordinate UNHCR’s input to the research and facilitate access to relevant information concerning UNHCR’s activities and concerned field operations and activities.

Team Members