The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees leads and co-ordinates international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees.

UNHCR Innovation works with people inside and outside of UNHCR to innovate with and for refugees. This means working collaboratively with refugees, academia, and the private sector to creatively address challenges uprooted or stateless people face worldwide. It means constantly rethinking the 
way UNHCR works, while tapping in to the spirit of innovation that already exists within the organization. UNHCR Innovation aims to empower staff to work with refugee communities to design innovative solutions to challenges in three ways:

1. Amplify innovations already happening within UNHCR.
2. Connect innovators within UNHCR to resources and each other.
3. Explore innovations happening outside UNHCR. Rather than reinvent the wheel, we look for ways to adapt them to refugee challenges.

UNHCR Innovation has become a powerful channel to bring out ideas and knowledge and help integrate new thinking in education, energy, communications, shelter, and livelihoods for refugee communities