It was one of the organizations set up to provide relief to populations suffering from the effects of the war, others being the British Committee on Surpluses, the Inter-Allied Committee on Post-War Requirements, established in September 1941 to estimate the extent of postwar needs and the Middle East Relief and Refugee Administration, which the British set up to operate refugee camps.
[1] President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced on 21 November 1942 that the OFRRO was being established with Herbert H. Lehman, the governor of New York State, as its director.
Every aid possible will be given to restore each of the liberated countries to soundness and strength, so that each may make its full contribution to United Nations' victory and to the peace which follows.
[3] In 1943 Selskar Gunn of the Rockefeller Foundation was secretary of Governor Lehman's committee to organize the OFRRO, creating plans that were used in the operations of its successor, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA).
[4] On 17 June 1943 Lehman outlined the future tasks of the UNRRA, which the United Nations wanted to establish to organize relief, rehabilitation and supplies.