Our Latest Articles
Bridging the identity divide – Is Portable User-Centric Identity Management the Answer?
Who takes care of the tens of millions of refugees, forcibly displaced and stateless persons who either cannot safely approach their government, or have no government that recognizes them as citizens?
RETS Providing vital communications in refugee situations
The Refugee Emergency Telecommunications Sector (RETS) is the mechanism through which UNHCR coordinates the communications technology response in refugee situations. Watch the clip here on what it is. If you would like more information, contact [email protected]
A Mobile Messaging App facilitates access to justice
The European Court of Human Rights recently recognized that messages between detained asylum seekers and their lawyer on a popular mobile messaging application met formal requirements for lodging an application to the Court.
Digital Identity – Why It Matters and Why It’s Important We Get It Right
At the World Economic Forum, Leaders have called for greater multi-stakeholder co-operation on digital identity and announced their commitment to strengthen collective action on this agenda.
The WhatsApp Wedding
The clip WhatsApp Wedding was produced in 2015 for UNHCR. Refugees Plus, a new digital media platform run by a network of young refugee journalists, has posted it recently – for us the occasion to share it here with our readers.
42 seconds on digital identity
How digital identity will empower refugees by Kelly Clement, UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner.
Sharing Internet in Uganda to Save and Protect Lives
The successful UNHCR-led Refugee Emergency Telecommunications Sector (RETS) provide shared internet connectivity, security communications and user support services to the humanitarian community in Uganda.
The digital debate
Is biometrics appropriate in refugee situations? Can digital technology resolve problems related to the lack of identity papers? These and other questions were debated in two newspaper articles published by the German newspaper Die Zeit recently.
Phone Operators Advocate for Easier Access for Refugees to Mobile Networks
The GSM Association recently pointed out that most countries do not recognize UNHCR identification documents issued to refugees for purchasing and activating a mobile SIM card for purposes of communication or mobile financial services.
Central American refugees: protected or put at risk by communication technologies?
Article by Guillermo Barros from Forced Migration Review digest (Issue 56, October 2017) on the negative consequences of communication for Central American refugees.
Nigeria: 100,000 internally displaced receive biometric ID Cards
The registration and issuance of tokens to 100,000 persons has started in Maiduguri (Borno State) in North-Eastern Nigeria.
Modernizing Registration and Identity Management in UNHCR: Introducing PRIMES
UNHCR is launching PRIMES, a new and innovative ecosystem of interoperable tools and applications, to provide better access to opportunities and services for refugees and other forcibly displaced persons.