The Modern Refugee
The refugee crisis on European shores has opened our eyes to a global refugee crisis that is unprecedented in scale. More people have been forced to flee their homes by conflict and crisis than at any time since World War II.
The very nature of being a refugee has changed, too, but our perceptions haven’t necessarily caught up. 60 percent of refugees worldwide live in cities and communities, not in camps. And the kind of aid they need has changed.
Rather than handing out blankets or food that refugees may not need, providing cash relief is proving increasingly effective
Rather than handing out blankets or food that they may not need, for example, providing cash relief is proving increasingly effective, and often in the form of digital, secure, easy-to-use prepaid debit cards or mobile-based transfers.
Rather than providing them information, they can find it themselves. In Greece and Serbia, RefugeeInfo, a low-bandwidth site for refugees developed in partnership with Google, lets refugees know where to stay, where to get legal advice, and so on.
Start-ups have helped to involve refugees in the aid they receive, trying to get a better understanding of how they live their lives.
Whilst in the public and voluntary space, organic tech movements have organised people who want to make their own contribution to the lives of refugees, including through supporting their resettlement.
So how can technology be best harnessed to meet the needs of the modern refugee?
Join humanitarian aid experts from the International Rescue Committee and General Assembly for a series of quick-fire presentations, short films from the IRC’s work in the field, and a discussion to explore what we can achieve together on the refugee crisis.
Speakers will include:
- Joséphine Goube, Chief Operating Officer, Techfugees
- Joseph Thompson, Chief Executive, AID:Tech
- Sanj Srikanthan, Vice President Europe, Deputy Executive Director, International Rescue Committee
- Daphne Jayasinghe, Senior Policy & Advocacy Advisor, Economic Programmes, International Rescue Committee
Join us: Wednesday 19 October 2016, 6.30-8.30pm
Join humanitarian aid experts from the International Rescue Committee and General Assembly for a series of quick-fire presentations, short films from the IRC’s work in the field, and a discussion to explore what we can achieve together on the refugee crisis.
Get your free ticket