Refugees and migrants continue crossing the Panama-Costa Rica border in search of safety. © UNHCR/Melissa Pinel
By Anna Gallinat and Conor Flavin
At the end of September 2024, world leaders are coming together in New York City to convene a variety of high-level events. Between 22-23 September, the Summit of the Future will take place, which has been described as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to mend eroded trust and demonstrate that international cooperation can effectively tackle emerging threats as well as opportunities.
It is preceded by Action Days (20-21 September), that are an opportunity for broad engagement and inclusion with diverse stakeholders. The flagship engagement of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, throughout the Summit is centered around “youth empowerment and leadership”, with young refugee leaders attending various sessions. Building on this momentum, Saturday’s programme will focus on three priority themes: peace and security, sustainable development and financing, and digital and technology. UNHCR’s Global Data Service will be involved in the latter by sharing information and experiences of two key projects leading us into the future.
Projects of the Future
An asylum-seeker creating her Movilidad Segura account. © UNHCR/Ana Carolina Tome Pires
UNHCR key projects like the Digital Gateway and PRIMES Interoperability Gateway (PING) showcase how data and technology can support those forced to flee. The Digital Gateway enables secure and reliable remote two-way communication with refugees and stateless people, while PING facilitates secure data sharing between UNHCR’s digital Population Registration and Identity Management Ecosystem (PRIMES) and partners’ data systems, improving the protection and assistance to refugees.
A compact to tackle the digital divide
The Summit of the Future should result in the adoption of the Pact for the Future, which will include a Declaration for Future Generations and a Global Digital Compact, aiming to serve as an inclusive global framework to overcome digital, data and innovation divides. It is expected to outline principles, objectives, and actions to advance an open, free, secure, and human-centered digital future for all, one that is anchored in universal human rights and that enables the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
While PING offers clear links to many of the 17 SDGs, for example, the Digital Gateway is also a clear advance to providing a digital future for all, including some of the world’s most vulnerable populations – people forced to flee. The Gateway’s vision is to ensure that forcibly displaced and stateless people have greater autonomy over their own data.
Tigisti Aninia Zeray, an Eritrean refugee, received a digital ID card in Ethiopia, thanks to data transfers between UNHCR and the government, using PING technology. ©UNHCR/Lucrezia Vittori
The future of the United Nations
Another important initiative, which will be discussed in the coming weeks and months is UN 2.0. It will be presented as an important steppingstone to modernize the UN system through enhanced skills and a forward-thinking culture for stronger results. The initiative revolves around the quintet of change which consists of data, digital, innovation, strategic foresight, and behavioral science – topics that continue to evolve in UNHCR’s work, particularly in operational contexts.
With UNHCR’s the organization has already embarked on a journey towards future-proofing not only the way we work but also the way we carry out our mandate to protect forcibly displaced and stateless people.
UN 2.0 – Data
Data is key to modern systems and delivering efficient responses for forcibly displaced and stateless populations. UNHCR’s data work is underpinned by data protection. With personal data of over 18m forcibly displaced people, around 20,000 UNHCR colleagues, and thousands of partners, contractors, donors and others, UNHCR places the utmost importance on the protection of the personal data it is entrusted with. We take this responsibility seriously and apply the highest, international data protection standards to guarantee the safety of those we work with and for.
Furthermore, UNHCR’s Data Academy enhances the data literacy of all UNHCR personnel, with topics ranging from registration and identity management to data science, from data analysis to population statistics. Since its launch in April 2024, over 1,500 colleagues have enrolled in one or more of the 14 available courses with nearly 800 completions.
UN 2.0 – Digital
On digital, we are increasing digital capabilities of our workforce. For example, UNHCR’s Orion Analytics Center is an enterprise platform that establishes a connected data landscape by bringing together data from multiple enterprise systems. In a highly automated way, it has curated the most accurate population figures by standardizing and consolidating 15 million records from across 199 countries, allowing all colleagues to see a clearer picture at the country, regional and global levels, thereby enabling evidence-informed decision making.
UN 2.0 – Innovation
To reduce misinformation among Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Boa Vista, Brazil, UNHCR launched the La Chama chatbot in 2021. Today, this automated WhatsApp messaging tool is providing essential, reliable, and timely information to more than 10,000 displaced people. In addition to the chatbot, La Chama also enables refugees and migrants to ask questions directly to UNHCR, enabling them a quick route to stamping out potential falsehoods.
UN 2.0 – Behavioral science
The Digital Gateway is a community-driven development. During extensive consultations with forcibly displaced and stateless communities worldwide the use of the existing digital services, challenges users have had in using and adopting to the use of digital services have been carried out. Findings revealed a strong preference for digital self-service solutions, despite challenges related to connectivity and digital literacy in some regions. These valuable inputs have all been taken into consideration while developing the Digital Gateway.
UN 2.0 – Strategic Foresight
In the area of strategic foresight, UNHCR’s Data Science team is quickly advancing. In late 2023, we started releasing “nowcasting” estimates for global refugee and asylum-seeker populations. These nowcasted figures help to estimate numbers in situations where statistics are not sufficiently timely with estimates produced for the previous month on a rolling basis.
To gain a better understanding of the drivers of climate-induced forced displacement, the team is currently developing a risk index for displacement due to slow-onset climate hazards. The CLIFDEW-GRID project’s focus is on West and East Africa, given the high levels of displacement and the impending exacerbation of challenges these communities face. By combining data from UNHCR’s registration records on displaced populations, remote sensing information, and data from sources like social media and Google Trends, the project aims to create a valuable predictive tool for proactive action.
The impact of Cyclone Mocha on Dar Paing village. © UNHCR/Reuben Lim Wende
The multilateral discussions and agreements in New York provide important foundations for UN Member States to develop their national data and digital frameworks. UNHCR is committed to paving the future for a more data-rich and data-accessible world. The moment is now to act and make strides to advance commitments that have already begun.