Webinar agenda Online/Offline: How Technology Can Empower Local - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Webinar agenda

Online/Offline: How Technology Can Empower Local Refugee Communities

1. Presentation by Alan Vernon, Project Lead, Connectivity for Refugees, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency (Washington DC) 2. Interview by Josephine Goube, Chief Executive Officer of Techfugees (London) in conversation with Alan Vernon, UNHCR 3. Q&A moderated by Kim Turner, Cities of Migration, Global Diversity Exchange (Toronto)

Webinar recording will be available on the website: www.citiesofmigration.ca

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Connecting Refugees

Cities of Migration Webinar Alan Vernon, Project Lead, Connectivity for Refugees UNHCR 23 November 2016

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Connectivity :

• The state of being connected or interconnected
• The ability to link and communicate with other electronic

devices, computer systems, software, or the internet. – Mobile phones (smart, feature, basic) – Tablets , laptops, computers.

• The capacity to make use of technology to connect in order to

receive and share information and communicate

Our Connected world

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• Introduction
• Key Takeaways
• Research Findings: How well are refugees connected?
• UNHCR’s Strategy for Connecting Refugees
• Discussion

Connectivity for Refugees

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Key Takeaways

• Vast majority of refugees are not reliably

connected to the Internet and struggle to maintain mobile phone use

• While networks are lacking in some cases,

the primary barrier is affordability

• The private sector is ready to work with the

Humanitarian Community

• Connecting refugees holds the potential to

dramatically improve their well-being and transform humanitarian action

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UNHCR aims, through creative partnerships and smart investments, to ensure that all refugees, and the communities that host them, have access to an available, affordable and usable mobile and internet connectivity in

• rder to leverage these technologies for protection, communications,

education, health, self‐reliance, community empowerment and durable solutions.

UNHCR Connectivity for Refugees Vision

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Research & Assessment Methodology

96 Survey Responses

(from 44 countries)

20 Focus Groups

(in 10 countries)

4 Assessment Missions

(Tanzania, Kenya, Jordan, Greece)

94 Countries for Data Analysis 76 Countries for Coverage Analysis

Map shows countries with survey responses and/or focus group participation

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What do we know about how connected refugees are?

Major Refugee Locations (2014)

Globally, 7% of refugees live in areas without any coverage

52% of refugees live in areas without 3G broadband mobile internet coverage

Refugees are 50% less likely than the general population to have an internet-enabled phone, and 29% of refugee households have no phone at all.

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Refugees have similar access to mobile networks as the global population

Key Findings (1)

1 Affordability constraints – the most significant hurdle to overcome in connecting refugees 2

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As the global population, refugees experience differences in network coverage and device ownership in urban and rural areas

Key Findings (2)

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Connectivity is critical for refugees in communicating with friends and family, in both their home and host country.

Key Findings (4)

5 Refugees, just as the rest of us, use Social medias extensively. 6

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Refugees, UNHCR staff and NGO partners see connectivity as critical to the protection of refugees.

Key Findings (6)

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“The problem is that in my community, getting timely access to first aid is hard, so it’ll really help, if an app can teach basic first aid, or warn of disease outbreak”

• Urban refugee in Kenya.

“Due to the precarious protection situation, a mobile phone is considered a protection tool, for example to call friends if arrested, to alert friends of raids, or to use applications like Waze to navigate safely”

• Urban Refugee in Malaysia

. ““A safety app would be very useful to warn us about which part of community/city we should avoid dangerous areas”

• Urban Refugee in Kenya.

.

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UNHCR aims, through creative partnerships and smart investments, to ensure that all refugees have access to an available, affordable and usable mobile and internet connectivity in order to leverage these technologies for protection, communications, education, health, self‐reliance, community empowerment and durable solutions.

Our Vision

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To enable connectivity for refugees, networks must be available, devices and plans must be affordable, and the devices and applications offered must be usable.

Refugee Connectivity Framework

AVAILABILITY

Mobile and broadband networks must be available in locations where refugees live

AFFORDABILITY

Devices and internet service plans must be offered at prices that refugees can afford

USABILITY

Refugees must be digitally literate and able to use digital programs

• ffered by UNHCR and its partners

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UNHCR will deploy a mix of ten strategic interventions that address refugees’ availability, affordability, and usability challenges. During the pilot phase, country specific analysis will identify which interventions are relevant based on country specific contexts.

UNHCR Strategy on Connectivity

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UNHCR cannot connect the refugee population by itself. Rather, it will proactively build multi-faceted partnerships with a broad range of stakeholders to provide sustainable connectivity for refugees and identify the required resources to lead the planning, execution, and monitoring of implementation. The approach will be customized for each target country.

Implementation Approach - PARTNERSHIP

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In Greece, we partnered with Vodafone foundation & TSF to provide Free WIFI stations and charging solutions to refugees. + Coordinating NGO’s in connecting over 70 sites with WIFI.

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New 3G VODACOM Tower in the Nyarugusu refugee camp, Kasulu Tanzania In Tanzania, we are working with telecom providers & technology companies to improve 3G and WiFi networks for over 200’000 refugees and the host communities.

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In Jordan, we are working with telecom providers, NGO’s & technology companies to connect community centers, provide charging solutions & distribute Skype vouchers enabling refugees to stay in touch with their loved ones.

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• http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/innovation.html

More about Connectivity for Refugees

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Thank you

www.data.unhcr.org

Josephine Goube Chief Executive Officer, Techfugees Techfugees is a social enterprise coordinating the international tech community’s response to the needs of Refugees www.techfugees.com

Acknowledgments

Online/Offline: How Technology Can Empower Local Refugee Communities

www.citiesofmigration.org

• Alan Vernon, Project Lead, Connectivity for

Refugees, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency (Washington DC)

• Josephine Goube, Chief Executive Officer of

Techfugees (London, United Kingdom)

• Kim Turner, Cities of Migration, Global Diversity

Exchange (Toronto, Canada)