Paper details
| Paper authors | Benjamin Hounsell |
| In panel on | Connected Refugees: Opportunities and Challenges of Communication Technologies for Refugees |
| Paper presenter(s) will be presenting |
In-Person / |
Abstract
Economic migrants, refugees and forcibly displaced communities, form a significant part of East Africa’s socioeconomic landscape. With migration across the region set to continue for the foreseeable future, sustainable solutions must be found that support these communities and integrate them into local and national economies
Information Communication Technology (ICT), especially smartphones, provide a gateway through which refugees fleeing conflict or persecution communicate with friends and family and access vital, sometimes lifesaving information. Mobile phone coverage and the absence of 3G (data) are just some of the challenges refugees face using ICT as they make their journey.
Similar challenges in ICT access are also faced within refugee settlements of host countries, particularly in under developed regions. Indeed, refugees living in rural and urban settlements mirror many of the circumstances faced by other low-income households in terms of access to financial services, quality education and productive long-term employment.
If innovations in ICT can be used to leverage viable business models that deliver sustainable solutions to refugees, then these same solutions may prove highly effective for other low-income households across East Africa and beyond.
Based on research conducted in refugee settlements in Kenya and Uganda, this paper explores how mobile connectivity impacts the migration and settlement of refugees and the opportunities for the delivery of new digital services this presents. Parallels are then drawn on how these services can also be delivered to host and other low-income communities.
Presenters
Samuel Hall