4 recent innovations to celebrate this World Refugee Day
Today, on 20 June, we join UNHCR in honouring people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution. We celebrate their strength and courage and reflect on what more we - as a design and tech studio, can do to support them.
This World Refugee Day we reflect on the most impactful innovations that have been created to support refugees worldwide and draw attention to the consistent involvement of refugees themselves in the success of said projects.
Signpost Project - IRC
Signpost is the IRC's community-led information service that is designed for refugees, displaced populations and other people facing crises around the world. It’s best described as ‘a form of digital social work’ - with a vision to give the power of information to the most neglected communities in crises worldwide.
The programme has 3 core components: Technology, Partnerships and Evidence-Based Model - which means the programming is backed by research. It delivers concise, tailored information to communities through social media, websites, chat apps and directly through practitioners for maximum reach and accessibility.
In March 2024 it won the first-ever European Prize for Humanitarian Innovation (InnovAid)
🎉 Why we celebrate it
We join the European Innovation Council in celebrating the Signpost project. For us, it strikes the perfect balance between adaptable tech and bespoke community content. The tech is designed specifically to function in refugee environments, where connectivity is low, and every community that the programme enters is involved in designing the most useful content for its requirements. Striking the balance between community and technology is a powerful force for change for displaced populations.
The Global Gateway Program - a collaboration between Automation Anywhere and Robo Co-op
The Global Gateway program aims to create 100,000 job opportunities for refugees in the next three years by training refugees in valuable tech skills that they can use for remote jobs anywhere in the world. The programme offers courses, scholarships, on-the-job training and even free hardware to support refugees into employment. Learning is flexible, remote, and has a low skills barrier to entry, so that in as little as 3 months they can be ready for new careers, accessible from their host country.
In May 2024 it won Fast Company’s 2024 World Changing Ideas Awards in the corporate social responsibility category.
🎉 Why we celebrate it
The programme demonstrates the perfect partnership between Robo Co-Op, who provide a supportive community to the refugees and Automation Anywhere who have built a reputable curriculum. We applaud the level of support that surrounds the upskilling, to ensure it can have the maximum impact on refugee lives. Neeti Shukla, co-founder of Automation Anywhere says ‘Technology can be a language’ for refugees, when the culture and spoken language surrounding them in their host country is unfamiliar. We love this articulation and couldn’t agree more with the sentiment.
Fayda Digital ID for refugees - a partnership between the Ethiopian Government and UNHCR
This year a new digital ID system was launched by the Government of Ethiopia through its Refugees and Returnees Services (RSS), in partnership with the National ID Program (NIDP) and UNHCR. Through the Fayda Digital ID system, refugees are offered biometric refugee ID cards, each featuring a unique national identification number. This helps them to access healthcare services, obtain SIM cards, enrol into schools, open bank accounts and obtain business permits.
In short, it invites them to be part of society in Ethiopia.
Yodahe Zemichael, Executive Director at the National ID Program says;
In a world where identity is the key to access, Fayda Digital ID for refugees is not just an ID; it is a gateway to dignity, enabling access to essential services, legal recognition, and opportunities to be integrated into host communities. Let's build systems that recognize everyone, ensuring that no one is left behind.
🎉 Why we celebrate it
This initiative is groundbreaking for the settlement experience of a refugee into a host country. By digitising their legal identity it removes countless barriers to their integration, safeguards their rights and provides them with opportunities to succeed that are rarely available to refugees in other countries. It is the most inclusive and connected digital initiative for refugees that we’ve seen from a Government.
- UNHCR welcomes commitments at ID4Africa 2024 on digital identity gains for displaced people in Africa
- Inclusion in Ethiopia’s ID system opens new doors for refugees
Hiring and Integrating Refugees Into the Workforce - Tent
If you work in the social impact sector, you may well have heard of the great work being done by Tent. They connect leading global businesses with refugee workers, supporting with hiring, training and mentorship to create a valuable link between employment vacancies and within organisations and relevantly upskilled refugee applicants.
They’ve just expanded into Mexico and this year they were listed as the Time 100 most influential companies of 2024 - and quite rightly so.
🎉 Why we celebrate it
Tent has created a network of over 400 organisations who are committed to integrating refugees. We love how within that network they have focused on shared learnings between companies, to build a hiring, training and mentorship model that leverages a network of experience. As Tent CEO Gideon Maltz says ‘securing a job is a critical milestone for a refugee building a new life.’ The employment opportunities that Tent provides are beneficial for the refugees, the companies that they join and the economy of the host country. Everyone's a winner.
Our work supporting refugees
Ask any member of Here I Am about their proudest achievement and you’ll undoubtedly hear about one of our projects that has impacted the lives of refugees. We are honoured to have worked alongside a wealth of refugee led organisations to deliver training and to design and develop digital tools to support them. We also have some really interesting projects involving refugees that are currently underway in the studio that we look forward to sharing more about soon.
Here are two recent projects that we’d like to share this World Refugee Day.
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