United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - Quiz
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
  • 1. Where is the headquarters of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) located?
A) New York, USA
B) Zurich, Switzerland
C) Paris, France
D) Geneva, Switzerland
  • 2. Who was the first High Commissioner for Refugees appointed by the League of Nations?
A) Fridtjof Nansen
B) Albert Einstein
C) James McDonald
D) Kofi Annan
  • 3. In what year was the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees established?
A) 1944
B) 1951
C) 1950
D) 1949
  • 4. What was the original mandate duration intended for UNHCR when it was established?
A) 5 years from January 1951
B) 3 years from January 1951
C) Indefinitely from January 1951
D) 10 years from January 1951
  • 5. Which convention defines who is a refugee and the standards for their treatment?
A) 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees
B) 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees
C) 1960 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness
D) 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  • 6. What did the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees remove from the 1951 Refugee Convention?
A) Provisions for resettlement
B) Legal protections for refugees
C) Requirements for asylum applications
D) Geographical and temporal restrictions
  • 7. Which event in 1956 involved UNHCR in coordinating a response?
A) Uprising in Hungary
B) Vietnam War
C) Chinese Civil War
D) Algerian War of Independence
  • 8. What major event in the 1990s highlighted difficulties for UNHCR in upholding its mandate?
A) End of the Cold War
B) 1999 NATO mission in FR Yugoslavia
C) 1994 Rwandan Genocide
D) Fall of the Berlin Wall
  • 9. As of June 2020, how many refugees were under UNHCR's mandate?
A) 5 million
B) 10 million
C) Over 20 million
D) 30 million
  • 10. What was UNHCR's budget in 1951?
A) US$500,000
B) US$2 million
C) US$300,000
D) US$1 million
  • 11. Which of the following is NOT a major donor to UNHCR?
A) United States
B) Germany
C) European Union
D) China
  • 12. What was the primary focus of UNHCR's work initially?
A) Europeans displaced by World War II
B) Refugees from Africa
C) Refugees from Asia
D) Refugees from the Americas
  • 13. Which decade saw UNHCR's focus shift significantly towards operations in Africa?
A) 1950s
B) 1970s
C) 1960s
D) 1980s
  • 14. What role did the media play in UNHCR operations in the 1990s?
A) Was banned from reporting
B) Only reported on UNHCR successes
C) Had no influence
D) Became a significant factor, especially in humanitarian interventions
  • 15. What was a significant challenge for UNHCR in the 1980s?
A) Member states' unwillingness to resettle refugees
B) Overabundance of resettlement opportunities
C) Lack of funding
D) Excessive international support
  • 16. What was one of the major impacts of decolonisation on UNHCR in the 1960s?
A) Ended refugee crises
B) Limited UNHCR's operations to Europe
C) Triggered large refugee movements in Africa
D) Reduced UNHCR's budget
  • 17. What was UNHCR's budget in 2019?
A) US$10 billion
B) US$3 billion
C) US$5 billion
D) US$8.6 billion
  • 18. What type of assistance does UNHCR provide to refugees?
A) Protection, shelter, healthcare, and emergency relief
B) Only financial aid
C) Legal representation in courts
D) Military protection
  • 19. How did UNHCR's focus change by the end of the 1960s?
A) Shifted to Asia
B) Remained focused on Europe
C) Shifted from Europe to Africa
D) Shifted from Africa to Europe
  • 20. What was a major factor in refugee displacement during the 1980s?
A) Natural disasters
B) Economic prosperity
C) Inter-ethnic conflict in newly independent states
D) Peace treaties
  • 21. What was the role of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA)?
A) Providing military aid
B) Establishing UNHCR
C) Resettling refugees to the United States
D) Supporting displaced people across Europe after World War II
  • 22. What was a significant outcome of the 1970s refugee crises?
A) UNHCR reduced its budget
B) UNHCR operations spread globally
C) UNHCR focused only on Europe
D) UNHCR ceased operations
  • 23. What was a major challenge for UNHCR in the 1990s?
A) Excessive funding
B) Restrictive refugee policies in wealthy nations
C) Overabundance of resettlement opportunities
D) Lack of refugee crises
  • 24. What was the role of the Nansen International Office for Refugees?
A) Established UNHCR
B) Continued Fridtjof Nansen's work after his death
C) Funded refugee resettlement in the USA
D) Provided military support to refugees
  • 25. What was the impact of the end of the Cold War on UNHCR?
A) Reduction in UNHCR's budget
B) Continued inter-ethnic conflict and refugee flight
C) Focus solely on Europe
D) End of all refugee crises
  • 26. What was a significant factor in the 1999 NATO mission in FR Yugoslavia?
A) Humanitarian intervention by multinational forces
B) UNHCR's withdrawal
C) End of the Cold War
D) Lack of media coverage
  • 27. What was a major challenge for UNHCR in the 1980s regarding conflicts?
A) Lack of international interest
B) Superpower rivalry and socio-economic problems
C) Overabundance of funding
D) Peaceful resolutions
  • 28. When was UNHCR established?
A) 15 August 1951
B) 14 December 1950
C) 22 July 1952
D) 1 January 1949
  • 29. What percentage of UNHCR's total donations came from the United States in 2024?
A) About 25%
B) About 40%
C) About 50%
D) About 30%
  • 30. How much of UNHCR's US$10.6 billion appeal had been met by mid-2025?
A) Only 35%
B) Only 50%
C) Only 23%
D) Only 10%
  • 31. What was the expected percentage reduction in available funds for UNHCR in 2026 compared to 2025?
A) About 20% lower
B) About 10% lower
C) About 5% lower
D) About 15% lower
  • 32. Which of the following is NOT a country where UNHCR has major missions to assist IDPs and refugees?
A) South Sudan
B) Kenya
C) Iraq
D) India
  • 33. What is the name of the database maintained by UNHCR?
A) ProGres
B) RefugeeNet
C) DisplaceData
D) AsylumTrack
  • 34. In which year was the ProGres database introduced in Kenyan refugee camps?
A) 2015
B) 2012
C) 2010
D) 2013
  • 35. How much waste and fraud did the UN World Food Programme eliminate in Kenyan refugee camps after introducing biometric verification?
A) $500K
B) $1.4M
C) $2M
D) $3M
  • 36. What was the percentage reduction in staffing costs announced by UNHCR in June 2025?
A) Around 50%
B) Around 30%
C) Around 20%
D) Around 40%
  • 37. What was the percentage reduction in senior posts at UNHCR's Geneva headquarters and regional bureaux?
A) Nearly 40%
B) Nearly 50%
C) Nearly 60%
D) Nearly 30%
  • 38. Why do some countries label refugees as illegal?
A) They entered the country unlawfully without applying through the U.N.
B) They have criminal records
C) They refuse to register with local authorities
D) They lack proper documentation
  • 39. Who was appointed Press Director of the Japanese chapter of the UNHCR on October 15, 2026?
A) A representative from Costa Rica
B) Sho Sakurai
C) A Lebanese government official
D) Jonathan Wade
  • 40. When was the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants held?
A) 1 September 2016
B) 19 September 2015
C) 28 September 2016
D) 19 September 2016
  • 41. Where did UNHCR partner with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in September 2016?
A) Rome
B) New York
C) Geneva
D) Tehran
  • 42. What percentage of the joint livelihood strategy for South Sudan targets refugees?
A) 30%
B) 50%
C) 70%
D) 90%
  • 43. In which year did UNHCR start publishing data to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI)?
A) 2019
B) 2017
C) 2016
D) 2018
  • 44. What is the identifier used by UNHCR for publishing data to the IATI?
A) UNHCR-IATI-2018
B) XM-DAC-41121
C) UNHCR-41121
D) UNHCR-TRANSPARENCY-41121
  • 45. What score did UNHCR receive in the 2024 Aid Transparency Index?
A) 55.8
B) 70.2
C) 60.1
D) 63.4
  • 46. How is UNHCR's score of 63.4 in the 2024 Aid Transparency Index categorized?
A) Poor
B) Good
C) Average
D) Excellent
  • 47. Since what year has the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award been annually awarded?
A) 1981
B) 1954
C) 1960
D) 1991
  • 48. Which award did UNHCR receive in 1981?
A) Indira Gandhi Prize
B) Pulitzer Prize
C) Prince of Asturias Award
D) Nobel Peace Prize
  • 49. In which year did UNHCR receive the Indira Gandhi Prize?
A) 1991
B) 2015
C) 1981
D) 2005
  • 50. What percentage of refugees originated from just five countries according to the 2023 report?
A) 50 percent
B) 73 percent
C) 60 percent
D) 80 percent
  • 51. How many refugees were reported in the Middle East and North Africa region in 2015?
A) 2,500,000
B) 3,000,000
C) 2,941,121
D) 2,800,000
  • 52. How many people were in refugee-like situations in the Asia and Pacific bureau in 2015?
A) 300,000
B) 200,000
C) 250,000
D) 278,350
  • 53. What was the number of stateless persons in the East and Horn of Africa region in 2015?
A) 200,000
B) 250,000
C) 233,726
D) 300,000
  • 54. In the Europe region, how many asylum seekers were reported in 2015?
A) 850,000
B) 800,000
C) 827,374
D) 900,000
  • 55. What was the number of refugees in the Central Africa–Great Lakes region in 2015?
A) 900,000
B) 865,112
C) 950,000
D) 800,000
  • 56. How many stateless persons were there in Western Africa in 2015?
A) 700,116
B) 800,000
C) 650,000
D) 750,000
  • 57. What was the number of refugees in Southern Africa in 2015?
A) 190,000
B) 179,837
C) 170,000
D) 180,000
  • 58. How many pending asylum cases were there in Southern Africa in 2015?
A) 850,000
B) 870,000
C) 860,500
D) 880,000
  • 59. Which region had the highest number of IDPs or people in IDP-like situations assisted by the UNHCR in 2015?
A) Middle East and North Africa
B) Asia and Pacific
C) The Americas
D) Europe
  • 60. In 2015, how many people were in refugee-like situations in the East and Horn of Africa?
A) 33,553
B) 40,000
C) 35,000
D) 30,000
  • 61. How many people had pending asylum cases in the Asia and Pacific bureau in 2015?
A) 130,000
B) 150,000
C) 133,894
D) 140,000
  • 62. What was the number of stateless persons in the Americas in 2015?
A) 136,413
B) 140,000
C) 130,000
D) 150,000
  • 63. How many people were in refugee-like situations in the Americas in 2015?
A) 270,000
B) 250,000
C) 260,000
D) 251,888
  • 64. What was the number of IDPs or people in IDP-like situations assisted by the UNHCR in Central Africa–Great Lakes in 2015?
A) 2,200,000
B) 2,100,000
C) 2,021,269
D) 2,000,000
  • 65. In 2015, how many people were in refugee-like situations in Western Africa?
A) 10,000
B) 20,000
C) Information not applicable/unavailable
D) 30,000
  • 66. How many pending asylum cases were there in the Middle East and North Africa in 2015?
A) 110,000
B) 109,847
C) 100,000
D) 120,000
  • 67. How many people were in IDP-like situations in the Middle East and North Africa in 2015?
A) 13,000,000
B) 13,297,101
C) 14,000,000
D) 13,500,000
  • 68. In 2015, how many people had pending asylum cases in the Central Africa–Great Lakes region?
A) 19,000
B) 20,000
C) 18,623
D) 18,000
  • 69. What was the number of refugees in the Middle East and North Africa in 2015?
A) 2,713,748
B) 2,700,000
C) 2,800,000
D) 2,900,000
  • 70. How many people were in refugee-like situations in the Central Africa–Great Lakes region in 2015?
A) 13,741
B) 14,000
C) 13,000
D) 15,000
  • 71. What was the number of IDPs or people in IDP-like situations assisted by the UNHCR in the East and Horn of Africa in 2015?
A) 5,119,463
B) 5,130,000
C) 5,100,000
D) 5,120,000
  • 72. How many refugees were there in Western Africa in 2015?
A) 250,000
B) 260,000
C) 258,893
D) 270,000
  • 73. In how many countries does the UNHCR have staff as of 2023?
A) 200
B) 138
C) 100
D) 150
  • 74. Who is the current High Commissioner for Refugees as of 2026?
A) Filippo Grandi
B) Barham Salih
C) Ruud Lubbers
D) Fridtjof Nansen
  • 75. Who was promoted to Special Envoy to the High Commissioner in 2012?
A) Barbara Hendricks
B) Khaled Hosseini
C) Angelina Jolie
D) Adel Emam
  • 76. In what year did Angelina Jolie resign as Special Envoy?
A) 2022
B) 2020
C) 2015
D) 2018
  • 77. Which UN resolution was adopted in response to the sexual exploitation revelations in West Africa?
A) Resolution 57/306
B) Resolution 50/200
C) Resolution 60/300
D) Resolution 55/150
  • 78. Who noted the emergence of numerous overlapping and competing bodies related to UNHCR in 2021?
A) Filippo Grandi
B) Howard Adelman
C) António Guterres
D) Guterres Adelman
  • 79. In what year was UNHCR criticized for its handling of Uyghur refugee cases?
A) 2024
B) 2025
C) 2023
D) 2021
  • 80. What is UNHCR known as in the context of statelessness?
A) An international lead on addressing statelessness
B) A secondary agency on statelessness
C) A minor contributor to statelessness issues
D) A non-involved party in statelessness
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