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Can you find me now? Refugees United Goes Mobile to Help Reunite Refugees

Posted by MelissaUlbricht on Oct 28, 2010

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Can you find me now? Refugees United Goes Mobile to Help Reunite Refugees data sheet 3822 Views

As part of a pilot project in Uganda, Refugees United is using mobile tools to help connect refugees who have been displaced by war, persecution, and natural disasters. Refugees United is a Danish NGO that designed and runs a web-based program to help people directly reconnect with missing loved ones. For the mobile pilot, it is working in conjunction with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), mobile phone maker Ericsson, MTN, a mobile telecommunications company in Africa and specifically MTN Uganda, as well as other partner organizations on the ground.

Basic Information
Website URL: 
https://www.refunite.org/
Organization involved in the project?: 
Refugees United
Project goals: 

The goal of the mobile pilot is to perform outreach, training, and registration at refugee camps in Uganda and analyze results.

Brief description of the project: 

Refugees United is doing a six-month mobile pilot program in Uganda that allows refugees to register via mobile phone for a service that helps them connect with missing family members.

Target audience: 

The target audience for the mobile pilot is refugees in Uganda who are looking for missing family members.

Detailed Information
Length of Project (in months) : 
6
Status: 
Ongoing
What worked well? : 

The Refugees United pilot leveraged a technology -- the basic mobile phone -- that users are familiar with. Another success is the strength of the partnerships involved with the program. Refugees United drew from the existing local knowledge of organizations on the ground.

What did not work? What were the challenges?: 

Safety and trust within the system are ongoing concerns.