More than 50 million refugees fleeing persecution, violence and war have received aid from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) since 1951, in a continuing effort that often involves other agencies. UNHCR seeks long-term or "durable" solutions by helping refugees repatriate to their homelands, if conditions warrant, or by helping them to integrate in their countries of asylum or to resettle in third countries. There are more than 25 million refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced persons, mostly women and children, who are receiving food, shelter, medical aid, education and repatriation assistance from the UN.

As the global community strives for a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), a relief and human development agency, has assisted four generations of Palestinian refugees with education, health care, social services, microfinance and emergency aid. Today, 4.4 million refugees in the Middle East are registered with UNRWA.

When natural disasters and emergencies arise, the UN coordinates and mobilizes assistance to the victims. Working together with Governments, the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, major aid organizations and donors, the United Nations provides much-needed humanitarian assistance. UN appeals raise several billion dollars a year for emergency assistance.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has helped to spare millions of people from the calamitous effects of both natural and man-made disasters. Its early warning system, which includes thousands of surface monitors, as well as satellites, has made it possible to predict with greater accuracy weather-related disasters, has provided information on the dispersal of oil spills and chemical and nuclear leaks and has predicted long-term droughts. It has also allowed for the efficient distribution of food aid to drought-affected regions.

Within 24 hours of the Indian Ocean tsunami of 26 December 2004, UN disaster assessment and coordination experts were dispatched. The United Nations leapt into action to assist the survivors, distributing food to more than 1.7 million individuals, providing shelter for more than 1.1 million made homeless, providing drinking water to more than 1 million and vaccinating more than 1.2 million children against measles— all in the first six months of relief operations. The quick and effective delivery of humanitarian relief meant that no additional lives were lost due to privation after the initial devastation, and the outbreak of disease was averted.

The World Food Programme (WFP), the world's largest humanitarian agency, reaches an average of 90 million hungry people in 80 countries every year, including most of the world's refugees and internally displaced people. WFP food assistance is designed to meet the special needs of hungry people, especially women and children—the vulnerable majority most often affected by hunger. WFP works to break the cycle of hunger at its root by targeting the poorest and most malnourished people. School-feeding projects provide free lunches or take-home meals to nearly 20 million schoolchildren—with each meal costing just 25 U.S. cents. The agency's logistical expertise in emergency telecommunications enables it to dispatch help quickly in the most difficult and dangerous situations. With over 90 per cent of its staff working in the field, WFP uses a global network of planes, ships, helicopters, trucks and, if needed, donkeys, camels and elephants to reach those most in need. WFP serves as an advocate for the hungry, carrying the message from the grass roots to political leaders around the world.