The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was created by UN member States in 1950, with a budget of $300,000 in its first year. Since then, the number of forcibly displaced and stateless people has soared to more than 100 million, and the massive expansion in their needs has pushed UNHCR’s budget to more than $10 billion.
Governments continue to provide the bulk of UNHCR’s funding today.
