Respond to emergencies
Respond to emergencies
We ensure they can reach safety, deliver life-saving aid and work to protect them while they are displaced from home.
People forced to flee their homes to escape conflict or persecution must often leave everything behind to make the dangerous journey to safety.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, provides emergency protection and assistance to keep them safe, including shelter, access to clean water, food, medical care and help to reunite families.
Within the first 72 hours of an emergency unfolding, UNHCR can mobilize supplies for 1 million people and deploy expert staff to protect them.
We register and document displaced people, prioritizing the most vulnerable among them, such as the elderly, unaccompanied children, and pregnant women, to ensure they receive the specialized care they need.
We support refugees, who have crossed an international border in search of safety, and people who have fled their homes but remain displaced within their own countries.
Text and media 8
Access to safety
Making sure refugees can reach safety and are not pushed back across a border is central to our work. People forced to flee must not be expelled or returned to situations where their life and freedom are at risk. This is the prohibition against refoulement, enshrined in the 1951 Refugee Convention.
If we expect people might be fleeing across a border, our roving teams are out in vehicles in all kinds of terrain, sometimes 24 hours a day to help ensure refugees can reach safety. We monitor whether governments and armed groups are preventing refugees from entering a safe area. When necessary, we advocate with authorities and alert the media. We also try to make sure that people who do cross a border have a realistic chance to have their refugee status recognized.
Text and media 6
Shelter
The most immediate need in a displacement crisis is often safe, suitable shelter. We deliver life-saving tents, plastic sheeting and bedding so people exhausted from a long and often dangerous journey can sleep indoors, where they feel safer and are protected from harsh weather.
We help find safe places for refugees to settle. When there is no alternative, we will set up and help manage camps. We try to ensure the settlements are properly designed to protect the environment and help prevent outbreaks of disease.
Text and media 6 - Copy
Water, sanitation and hygiene
Access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services is life-saving. It is essential for the protection, health, dignity and peaceful coexistence of refugees and their host communities.
From the start of an emergency, UNHCR works closely with local governments and partners to advocate for the inclusion of refugee-hosting areas in national water and sanitation systems and development plans. We work to make sure that people forced to flee have access to safe water for drinking, cooking and washing. We help to build, repair or reinforce sanitation systems and facilitate access to hygiene supplies, like soap, while preventing the spread of disease and promoting a healthy environment.
Text and media 7 - Copy
Delivering supplies
In an emergency, UNHCR quickly provides life-saving supplies to people forced to flee. We maintain a global network of warehouses stocked with items like tents and blankets to ensure we are always ready to respond. Our teams anticipate, plan, source, and deliver essential supplies, ensuring the right products are available when and where they are needed most. Our supply chain efforts not only support our emergency response work but also sustain all of UNHCR's long-term operations and programmes.
Text and media 7
Cash-based interventions
Where appropriate, UNHCR uses cash transfers or vouchers so displaced people can buy food, goods and services in the same way as the local community. This helps them access the items they need in a dignified manner and supports local economies. It is also cost-effective, allowing us to reach and support more people.
Text and media 11
Coordinating assistance
We pride ourselves on being able to coordinate a quick and effective response in emergencies. We work together with governments, sister UN agencies, and non-governmental organizations (international and national) to rapidly mobilize our emergency teams and ensure life-saving supplies reach people in need.
Please consider donating today
Your gift can help protect someone forced to flee their home due to conflict or persecution.