previous more

UN and partners use new mobile phone application to enable refugees to trace families

The United Nations refugee agency is backing a pilot project to use a mobile telephone application to help locate and reconnect refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Uganda with their families.

Friday, September 10, 2010

By UN News

Article Tools

Discuss

The United Nations refugee agency is backing a pilot project to use a mobile telephone application to help locate and reconnect refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Uganda with their families. The project will enable refugees to use mobile telephones to register themselves, search for loved ones, and subsequently be able to reconnect through an anonymous database, using SMS or mobile Internet. The project is jointly implemented by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the non-governmental organization (NGO) known as Refugees United, the telecommunications company Ericsson and the mobile telephone service provider MTN, UNHCR reported yesterday. Although the database is maintained by Refugees United, information registered can be used for search purposes by refugees, NGOs and international organizations caring for displaced persons and to quickly put loves ones in touch with each other. The partners plan to expand the project to other countries. "UNHCR welcomes this new method of reuniting refugees with their friends and family," said Kai Nielsen, the UNHCR Representative in Uganda. "The pilot project is an important step towards a global partnership in which even the least fortunate people in the world can stay connected through innovative and accessible technology," he added.

Source: UN News

Filed under geopolitics, enable refugees, mobile phone application, partners, trace families, un

Global

Featured

Pope Benedict says the world is threatened by the absence of God
Generation X may not so bad after all, says new study
McFaul: U.S. Likely To Meet Russia On New Syria Resolution
U.S. President Barack Obama's top Russia adviser has said that diplomats from Washington and Moscow will likely meet in the coming weeks to work on a new UN Security Council draft resolution targeting the Syrian government over its bloody crackdown on antigovernment protesters.
Moscow Protesters Demand More Money For Russian Scientists
More than 500 protesters have gathered in Moscow's Pushkin Square to demand more government funding for science and scientists in Russia.
Interview: How Much Do Western Europeans Know About Communist Crimes?
Anders Hjemdahl of the Stockholm-based Institute for Information on the Crimes of Communism talked to RFE/RL about why Western Europeans seem to know so little about the communist past.
French Prosecutor Drops Strauss-Kahn Case
The Paris prosecutor's office has dropped an investigation into a French writer's claim that former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her.
Some Charges Against Russian Art Group Members Lifted
A prominent member of a Russian anarchist street-art collective who faced jail for overturning a police car has had the charges against him lifted.
Slovak Parliament Approves EU Bailout Fund
The Slovak parliament has approved expanding the powers of the European Union's bailout fund.
Czech Court Rejects Belarusian Extradition Request For Ex-Presidential Candidate
A Prague court has ruled that former Belarusian presidential candidate Ales Mikhalevich should not be extradited to Belarus.

Comments

Spero News by Email

UN and partners use new mobile phone application to enable refugees to trace families

The United Nations refugee agency is backing a pilot project to use a mobile telephone application to help locate and reconnect refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Uganda with their families.

Popular Right Now

Popular Commentary

New Reports

New World News