Internet, Mobile Connectivity a Lifeline for Refugees, Reports UNHCR

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Internet, Mobile Connectivity a Lifeline for Refugees, Reports UNHCR

By CircleID Reporter
September 15, 2016, 4:36 pm PDT Views: 6,457 Add Comment

“Many refugees regard a connected device as being as vital to them as food, water or shelter,” according to a new report from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and Accenture. The report, titled “Connecting Refugees: How Internet and Mobile Connectivity Can Improve Refugee Well-being and Transform Humanitarian Action,” is based on research undertaken in 44 countries on four continents.

— “Refugees living in urban areas tend to have similar access to mobile networks as other urban populations, but for refugees in rural locations the picture is very different, with only one in six refugees located in areas with 3G access, and one in five rural refugees having no mobile coverage at all—significantly lower than for the population at large. This effectively prevents many refugees from participating in the cultural, educational, and economic activity that connectivity affords.”

— “Private-sector partnerships are essential to scale the connectivity interventions globally… Companies and corporations bring global reach, innovative business models, experience in the communications and telecommunications industries, relationships with government regulators and financial and human resources, all of which will be instrumental to connecting the world’s refugee population.” –Roger Ford, ADP managing director

By CircleID Reporter — CircleID’s internal staff reporting on news tips and developing stories. Do you have information the professional Internet community should be aware of? Contact us.
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