A transformative pledge to connect forcibly displaced people and their hosts
Sabrin Abdulkadir Abdi looks on as she attends a maths class using a tablet at Melkadida Primary School in Melkadida Refugee camp, Melkadida, Ethiopia. © UNHCR/Tiksa Negeri
Connectivity is
a lifeline for
refugees and their hosts
Left: Refugee community volunteers play a role in helping the most vulnerable, in Jordan. © UNHCR/Lilly Carlisle
Left: Refugee community volunteers play a role in helping the most vulnerable, in Jordan. © UNHCR/Lilly Carlisle
but it’s one that
too many
still can’t take for granted.
Right: Subhi Nahas, a Syrian LGBTI refugee checks his phone at home in the Castro District of San Francisco. © UNHCR/Nick Otto
Forcibly displaced people are
50%
less likely than those not displaced
to have an internet-enabled phone.
According to ITU’s Fast Forward Progress report, 2017, p. 85.
While
20% of rural refugees have no internet access.
According to ITU’s Fast Forward Progress report, 2017, p. 85.
Right: Solar radios help teaching continue despite COVID-19, in Mali. © UNHCR/Leandro Andres Salazar-Lievano
Connectivity is
a lifeline
Jordan. Refugee community volunteers play role in helping the most vulnerable. © UNHCR/Lilly Carlisle
for refugees and their hosts,
but it’s one many still can’t take for granted.
Subhi Nahas, a Syrian LGBTI refugee checks his phone at home in the Castro District of San Francisco. © UNHCR/Nick Otto
Forcibly displaced people are
50%
less likely than those not displaced to have an internet-enabled phone.
Mali. Solar radios help teaching continue despite COVID-19. © UNHCR Leandro Andres Salazar-Lievano
While
20%
of rural refugees
have no internet access
Key connectivity-related issues
Unreliable electricity
Unstable internet
Unaffordable devices
Unaffordable connectivity
Low digital literacy
Unfavourable policy and regulatory environments
Together we can ensure
our connected world
leaves no one behind.
Global Refugee Forum 2023
Pledge: Connectivity for Refugees
DAFI students attend a workshop in Berlin held by Kiron, an NGO providing open access to education for refugees through digital solutions. © UNHCR/Gordon Welters
Key objectives
For those forced to flee, meaningful connectivity can bring access to life-saving information, online learning opportunities, new sources of income, and more. This Global Refugee Forum pledge aims to mobilize the expertise, resources, and investment we need to meet our goal of ensuring all major refugee hosting areas have available and affordable connectivity by 2030, advancing the digital inclusion of more than 20 million people forced to flee and their hosts.
The pledge will bring together a wide coalition of actors dedicated to providing connectivity to forcibly displaced and stateless people and the communities that host them. It will enable coordinated action, resource mobilization, knowledge sharing, and progress monitoring – ultimately ensuring pledges are met and communities are connected.
Supporters commit to take action on:
Enabling policy and regulatory environment
Fostering an enabling policy and regulatory environment for building and expanding connectivity infrastructure, including sustainable power supply, along with lifting legal barriers to individual access to services.
Connectivity solutions
Understanding connectivity levels and needs in refugee hosting areas, providing connectivity infrastructure, piloting new business models for advancing connectivity, and building evidence-based pathways for sustainable, inclusive connectivity solutions.
Connecting key facilities
Ensuring key facilities in areas hosting refugees and internally displaced people – for instance, schools, health centres, and community centres – are connected to the internet, and that community members enjoy access to both devices and relevant content.
Find out more about the
Microsoft partner C3 LTD’s technicians install the tower for Microsoft Connectivity for Refugees project at Dzaleka Refugee Camp UNHCR office, in Dowa District, Malawi. © UNHCR/Amos Gumulira
Background and synergies
This pledge builds on and recognizes commitments made at the 2019 Global Refugee Forum and at the High-Level Officials Meeting toward enhancing connectivity for forcibly displaced communities. This transformational agenda can only be achieved with committed, innovative, shared-value partnerships.
This pledge, as part of the Global Refugee Forum process, links closely with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)’s Partner2Connect Digital Coalition. UNHCR and ITU are coordinating to ensure that those contributing to this shared agenda are recognized on both platforms.
Initiative partners
This pledge is co-convened by UNHCR, ITU, GSMA, and the Government of Luxembourg. A wide and growing network of partners across government, private sector, international and regional organizations, NGOs, and community-led organizations have either contributed pledges or expressed interest.
Join us at the Global Refugee Forum
The initiative partners will be coming together with stakeholders from communities, industry, governments, private sector, and more to announce pledges, celebrate commitments, and hear from diverse voices.
Thursday, 14 December 2023, from 10:30–12:00 CET. Join us on Zoom here.
We welcome a range of pledges from different partners and stakeholders
For further details or information, contact us at:
Timeline
Online launch
October 2023
Pledge development
November 2023
GRF side event
10:30–12pm CET
14 December 2023
Delivery of commitments
January 2024 onward