The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was established in 1950 by the United Nations General assembly. The UNHCR is responsible for coordinating international programs to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems world wide. For an individual refugee, UNHCR programs provide the right to seek asylum and safe refuge in another state or country, and to return home voluntarily if possible. The UNHCR estimates that there are 12 million people currently classified as refugees. Many more are displaced within their home countries by civil unrest, famine, and war. The UNHCR works within the international community to protect refugees and ensure that their basic needs for shelter, food, and health care are met. Refugees in urgent need of protection, and refugees without other suitable solutions can be resettled in other countries, including the United States. For more than five decades, the UNHCR has helped people restart their lives. Today, UNHCR has a staff of over 6,600 people in more than 110 countries.