UNHCR is at a critical point in its 54—year history. Set up to protect refugees, it is now poised to take on a leading role in protecting internally displaced people. The Emergency Relief Coordinator, the heads of the major relief and development organisations, NGO umbrella groups and the Red Cross/Red Crescent movement—which together comprise the UN's Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC)1—on 12 September assigned the major responsibility for the protection of IDPs to UNHCR. The coordination and management of IDP camps and emergency shelter will also become UNHCR's responsibilities.