The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a subsidiary body of the UN General Assembly.
As a humanitarian organization, UNHCR’s mission is to ensure international protection for refugees and asylum seekers, respect for their rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international law and assist governments in the voluntary repatriation of refugees or their integration in host countries. There are 149 states that are parties to the 1951 Refugee Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, including Ukraine. Ukraine is also a party to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
As mandated by the UN General Assembly, UNHCR is also actively involved in providing assistance and protection to internally displaced persons.
Since January 1, 2026, Mr. Barham Salih (Iraq) has served as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
UNHCR has been present in Ukraine since 1994. Since October 2025, Ms. Bernadette Castel-Hollingsworth (France) has served as UNHCR Representative in Ukraine.
UNHCR has provided the Government of Ukraine with advisory and expert assistance in developing and improving the regulatory framework, sectoral strategies, and administrative procedures in the areas of internal displacement, prevention of irregular migration, protection of human rights etc.
UNHCR has provided legal and psychosocial assistance to asylum seekers, refugees, and former deported persons. UNHCR has also provided material and financial assistance to the most vulnerable groups of refugees. UNHCR’s protection services include the voluntary repatriation of refugees and the resettlement of those who cannot find adequate protection in the region. With the EU financial support, UNHCR is involved in training border guards, reconstructing and upgrading reception centres, and building the capacity of government authorities.
UNHCR is at the forefront of the UN humanitarian response in Ukraine, focusing primarily on internally displaced persons (IDPs). Between 2014 and 2021, UNHCR spent over $140 million in Ukraine to mitigate the humanitarian consequences of the Russian armed aggression.
In addition to its Representation in Kyiv, UNHCR currently has offices in Dnipro, Kharkiv, Lviv, and Odesa. UNHCR’s staff in Ukraine includes some 320 employees.
Since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, UNHCR has significantly expanded its operations in Ukraine and in countries hosting displaced persons from Ukraine. UNHCR mobilized nearly $654 million for humanitarian activities in Ukraine throughout 2022. More than $206 million was distributed as cash assistance to the most vulnerable citizens, with the remainder provided in the form of food, goods, and services. UNHCR also supported Ukrainian citizens residing in other countries as temporarily displaced persons with assistance totaling $1.3 billion, which was mobilized as part of the Ukraine Situation Regional Refugee Response Plan 2022.
In total, between 2022 and 2025, UNHCR provided assistance to nearly 10.43 million persons in Ukraine, totalling $1.72 billion. Also, from 2022 to 2025, more than 6.37 million Ukrainians who had temporarily relocated to European countries as a result of Russia’s armed aggression received assistance through UNHCR plans worth of more than $2.7 billion.
UNHCR’s 2026 program budget for Ukraine has been approved at $470 million. In addition, it is also estimated that some 1.72 million temporarily displaced Ukrainians abroad will receive UNHCR assistance worth of $380.8 million in 2026 within UNHCR’s Ukraine Situation Regional Refugee Response Plan for 2025–2026.
During the first half of 2026, UNHCR provided assistance to nearly 0.4 million persons in Ukraine, including 71,400 people who received direct financial assistance worth of US$18.4 million; 77,100 people who received assistance with housing repairs and temporary shelter; and more than 0.2 million people who received protection-related assistance (documentation, counseling, psychosocial support, etc.).
UNHCR is also actively involved in supporting recovery and reconstruction efforts in Ukraine. Key areas of UNHCR’s work in our country include:
1) assistance with the repair and reconstruction of damaged housing, both in high-rise buildings and private homes (since 2022, UNHCR has repaired over 50,000 private homes and apartments, of which nearly 10,000 were repaired in 2025; nearly 600,000 people received the necessary building materials, of whom 128,000 received them in 2025);
2) assistance with the repair of collective temporary accommodation centers for internally displaced persons (since 2022, UNHCR has repaired more than 37 collective centers for IDPs);
3) assistance with the repair of social infrastructure facilities (in 2026, this assistance covered 474 damaged infrastructure facilities, including hospitals, schools, and administrative buildings);
4) support for the development of small businesses, employment, vocational training/retraining, and social cohesion, in particular through grant assistance, training, and provision of equipment.
Since the beginning of the Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in 2022, UNHCR has been actively involved in the efforts of UN agencies to supply generators. Throughout the winter of 2025–2026, UNHCR provided 55 generators and 355 portable charging stations to support the uninterrupted operation of resilience centers, social facilities, the Ombudsman’s offices, and IDP accommodation centers, as well as large IDP families.
Cash assistance program is being implemented in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding between UNHCR and the Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine dated April 19, 2022. To strengthen coordination with the Ukrainian Side, the UNHCR Representation has also signed memorandums of understanding with the Ministry of Development, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Pension Fund of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, the Olena Zelenska Foundation, and 20 regional state administrations.
UNHCR has been actively partnering with Ukrainian non-governmental organizations, including through supporting the work of more than 400 local organizations, as well as the activities of the IDP Council network.
One of the UNHCR’s focus areas is providing verified and up-to-date information to displaced families so they can make an informed decision about returning to Ukraine. This is done through the “Ukraine is Home” platform, which was launched in 2023 as a project to support the restoration of damaged or destroyed housing.
Since the start of the large-scale Russian invasion, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has visited Ukraine seven times: in March 29–31, 2022; July 6–9, 2022; January 21–27, 2023; January 19–25, 2024; July 15–19, 2024; January 13–17, 2025; and February 15–21, 2026. During his February 2026 visit, Mr. Barham Salih, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, was received by the President of Ukraine and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
By Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 68/2026 dated January 22, 2026, Mr. Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees in 2016-2025, was awarded the Order of Merit of Ukraine in recognition of his outstanding role in leading and coordinating UNHCR response to the humanitarian and displacement crisis provoked by the Russia`s war of aggression.