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Protect human rights

What we do

Protect human rights

People forced to flee are often deprived of their fundamental human rights.

UNHCR advocates and works with governments to strengthen laws and ensure displaced and stateless people can access basic rights and services.
Une femme avec deux jeunes enfants échange avec un employé du HCR, en Colombie.

Working to ensure people forced to flee and those denied a nationality can access their human rights

Citizens normally look to their own governments to guarantee their human rights and physical security.

When people are forced to flee, it is often because they can no longer rely on their government to protect them – or because their own government is persecuting them.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, works to ensure that displaced and stateless people can access their rights, including the right to seek safety, the right to health care and the right to a nationality.

 

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Protection

Protection underpins all UNHCR activities aimed at ensuring the rights of refugees, displaced and stateless people are recognized.

We promote accession to the 1951 Refugee Convention which outlines the international standards of treatment for refugees. We also support States to register displaced people and provide them with documentation, and support refugee status determination, which is the administrative process that decides if a person seeking international protection is considered a refugee under international, regional or national law.

Learn more about Protection 

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Strengthening laws

We advocate for and work with governments to change laws and practices to better protect displaced people, creating change on national, regional, and global levels. This helps ensure refugees, asylum-seekers and other forcibly displaced persons can access support, get documents, go to school, work and exercise other rights.

Bringing about positive changes on national, regional and global levels can take years, but we accomplish it with the help of lawyers, judges, civil society organizations, politicians and students.

Learn more about Advocacy

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Ending statelessness

We also work to secure nationality for people who are stateless by advocating for change in laws and practices. One of the most important ways to achieve this is through nationality laws that allow children to become citizens of the country where they were born if they would otherwise be stateless. Birth registration is also critical. Likewise, we make sure people do not lose their nationality through changes to laws, when new states emerge or when there are changes to national borders.

Learn more about Ending statelessness 

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En marge de la session plénière et des événements parallèles de haut niveau, les participants au Forum ont également pris la parole au Speakers' Corner, à quelques pas de la salle d'assemblée principale, pour une série de brèves interventions sur les questions de déplacement forcé. Il s'agit d'un lieu où un éventail d'experts - représentants de gouvernements, personnel des Nations Unies, universitaires, réfugiés, apatrides, humanitaires et autres - peuvent prendre la parole pendant 10 minutes et/ou faire des présentations sur leurs expériences, les meilleures pratiques, les nouvelles approches et les stratégies pour relever les défis actuels et futurs. 

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Access to health care

Good health is an essential requirement for refugees to be able to rebuild their lives. UNHCR works with governments and partners to provide emergency health care, improve local health services accessed by refugees and host communities, and advocate for refugees to be included in national health systems and plans.

Learn more about Public health 

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Mercredi 13 décembre

Cérémonie de remise de la distinction Nansen pour les réfugiés

  • La cérémonie de remise de la distinction Nansen pour les réfugiés 2023 du HCR se déroulera à Genève le 13 décembre, le soir de l’ouverture du Forum mondial sur les réfugiés à Palexpo. Le programme présentera le travail des lauréats, ainsi que des performances artistiques en direct d’artistes ayant remporté ce prix.

  • La cérémonie de remise de la distinction Nansen est ouverte à tous les journalistes présents au Forum. Veuillez contacter [email protected] pour vous inscrire.

Jeudi 14 décembre

Les détails seront fournis ultérieurement.

Vendredi 15 décembre

Les détails seront fournis ultérieurement.

A group of people walk across the countryside, carrying their belongings
Advocating for laws, policies and practices that protect displaced and stateless people.
Upholding the basic human rights of people forced to flee and stateless people.

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Your gift can help protect someone forced to flee their home due to conflict or persecution.