Why Connectivity for Refugees needs evidence, policy change and investment to deliver at scale

My colleague Doreen Bogdan-Martin recently marked World Refugee Day with a reflection on what connectivity means for people displaced by conflict. And Kelly Clements has now said farewell to UNHCR by looking back on a decade of championing refugee connectivity. Both opinion pieces, part of our jointly-founded Connectivity for Refugees (CfR) leadership series, make the same point: this work only succeeds when humanitarian agencies, governments and industry sit together in the same room, year after year.

At this mid-year point, I want to add my own thoughts on where our partnership stands. At MWC26 Barcelona in March, we brought together governments, mobile operators, satellite providers and development and humanitarian partners to take stock of the CfR initiative. Three months on, the themes on the table that day are shaping our work: how to deepen partnerships rather than just add new ones, how to invest seriously in digital skills, and how to make sure connectivity is sustainable for operators as well as socially valuable for displaced communities. And none of that happens through goodwill alone.

Our visit to Chad last year is still with me. Travelling with Doreen and Kelly to the country’s fragile border with Sudan, we saw what 1.5 million refugees and their host communities are dealing with every day, and we saw what connectivity can do for people’s wellbeing. Local mobile operators Airtel Chad and Moov Africa have pushed network upgrades into some very difficult terrain, despite high fuel costs and fragile infrastructure. Luxembourg’s Emergency.lu has deployed satellite connectivity to learning hubs in Djabal, Farchana, Idrimi and Oure Cassoni.

Yes, connectivity for refugees doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by design, and only when three things align: evidence about where the gaps actually are, policy change to remove the barriers that keep refugees disconnected, and investment to build and sustain networks in difficult environments. And we are seeing some very good examples.

EVIDENCE: in South Sudan, our connectivity country assessment lays out, in detail, the access and usage gaps facing refugees and host communities, which will be used to inform planning by the government, industry and partners.

POLICY: in Kenya, our case study on digital identity shows how strict registration requirements and lengthy status-determination processes have, in the past, left refugees waiting years before they could register for mobile services. Working through that barrier with regulators and operators requires detailed evidence, but it is precisely this work that unlocks access at scale.

INVESTMENT: in Chad, Airtel and Moov Africa are extending infrastructure and exploring mobile money and digital literacy programmes for refugees and their hosts, even where the operating environment is challenging.

This combined approach has just been recognised by the UN, when CfR was named winner of the Sustainable Partnerships Award at the UN2.0 Awards. The judges pointed to results that now span 15 countries: roughly 1.2 million refugees and host community members reached, more than 30 community connectivity sites deployed, over $3.5 million mobilised in direct contributions, and decision-quality data products produced for eight countries. Ours is a genuinely innovative partnership, and it’s good to see it recognised as a model for how the UN system delivers in practice.

Next up, I am looking forward to attending the WSIS High-Level Dialogue in July in Geneva, where I, along with UNHCR, ITU, and Luxembourg, will talk about what it will take to scale sustainable connectivity solutions for refugees and host communities. The session sits squarely at the intersection of digital inclusion, infrastructure and international cooperation, which is exactly right if we are going to reach our goal of connecting 20 million forcibly displaced people and their host communities by 2030.

At this mid-year point, our ongoing priorities are three-fold: turning more of our evidence base into concrete policy reform in the countries where barriers remain highest; working with mobile operators to develop sustainable partnerships; and deepening multi-stakeholder collaboration, so that connectivity for refugees is treated as core infrastructure, and never as an afterthought.

None of this work would be possible without the continued support of the GSMA’s members and our funders, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). Their long-term backing is what allows us to build the evidence base, support the policy work and back the partnerships that, together, are starting to deliver connectivity at scale for some of the people who need it most.