Each year the UN’s refugee agency UNHCR selects a series of photos from the areas where it works, to highlight the plight of the world’s 120 million displaced people.

The photos also celebrate the extraordinary stories and resilience of refugees from communities and countries around the world. The images convey powerful messages of strength, love and hope, and remind us of our shared humanity.

This year UNHCR’s Photo of the Year features Nuralhuda Abdalaziz Abdalla laughing with her son, Raid Mohammed, at a refugee settlement in Uganda.

Abdalla is a mother of six and a former agricultural engineer. Conflict in Sudan forced her and her family to flee their home in Nyala, Darfur, crossing the Elegu border between South Sudan and Uganda and finding safety at the Kiryandongo refugee settlement.

Abdalla is a leader in the settlement and an inspiration for her young children.

UNHCR reported in June that at least 123.2 million people, or one in 67 individuals worldwide, are now forcibly displaced.

The ‘Global Trends’ report says the number of displaced people has increased by seven million people, or 6 percent, compared with the end of 2023, continuing a 13-year trend which has seen a year-on-year increase in the number of displaced people globally.

The main drivers of displacement remain large conflicts such as in Sudan, Myanmar and Ukraine, and the continued failure to stop the fighting, the report says. 

Forcibly displaced people include people displaced within their own country by conflict, which grew sharply by 6.3 million to 73.5 million at the end of 2024, and refugees fleeing their countries by 42.7 million people.

The challenge of global displacement and the gutting international humanitarian support has reached “epic” proportions according to the head of a leading humanitarian agency. 

David Miliband, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), said the global refugee population has hit historic highs, driven by war in Ukraine, violence in Sudan, state collapse in Venezuela, Taliban rule in Afghanistan, and a worsening humanitarian disaster in Gaza. 

See more pictures of the year here: Photo of the Year: Top refugee photos from 2025

Photo credit: © UNHCR/Ssozi Mukasa Daniel