United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, protects people forced to flee and people without a nationality. Its public health work supports refugees’ access to national health services, emergency care and programmes developed with host governments and humanitarian partners.
Organization profile
- Organization type
- Migrant & refugee support organization
- Headquarters / base
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Geographic scope
- Global
Medical focus
Activities
Population served
Protection and access to health services
UNHCR’s work spans emergency assistance, protection of rights and solutions to displacement. It works with governments on asylum systems and supports people seeking safety, returning home when conditions permit, or building a future in another country. Its mandate also includes stateless people, for whom the absence of nationality can prevent access to basic services.
The agency is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Its international reach concerns the people and communities it serves; the location of headquarters does not define where its programmes operate.
Refugees within health systems
UNHCR advocates for refugees to be included in national health policies and services. It works with ministries of health and partner organizations on affordable care in emergencies and in situations of prolonged displacement. Support can include improvements to local facilities, medicines and diagnostic equipment, training for health workers and complementary services when demand exceeds local capacity.
Primary healthcare is central to this approach. Programme areas include reproductive and child health, immunization, nutrition, mental health and care for communicable and noncommunicable conditions. Community health workers help people understand services, seek care and follow up treatment. UNHCR also describes HIV and tuberculosis prevention and treatment within its response to communicable diseases.
Information for public health decisions
UNHCR’s integrated Refugee Health Information System, iRHIS, collects information from partner health facilities serving refugees and host populations in camp and settlement settings. It supports monitoring of service use, births and deaths, disease surveillance and programme coverage. Outbreak reporting helps teams identify changes requiring a public health response.
Separate survey approaches address other information needs. Standardized Expanded Nutrition Surveys combine nutrition measurements with household information on food security, health and water and sanitation. Surveys of access and service use help examine the circumstances of refugees living in urban or other non-camp settings. These tools connect assistance planning with evidence about the populations concerned.
Sources: [5].
Further health reading
Sources
Institutional relationships