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A TRANSFORMATIVE PLEDGE TO CONNECT FORCIBLY DISPLACED PEOPLE AND THEIR HOSTS

Make a contribution

Sabrin Abdulkadir Abdi looks on as she attends a maths class using a tablet at
Melkadida Primary School in Melkadida Refugee camp, Melkadida, Ethiopia. ©
UNHCR/Tiksa Negeri




CONNECTIVITY IS
A LIFELINE FOR
REFUGEES AND THEIR HOSTS

Left: Refugee community volunteers play a role in helping the most vulnerable,
in Jordan. © UNHCR/Lilly Carlisle

Left: Refugee community volunteers play a role in helping the most vulnerable,
in Jordan. © UNHCR/Lilly Carlisle

but it’s one that


TOO MANY


STILL CAN’T TAKE FOR GRANTED.

Right: Subhi Nahas, a Syrian LGBTI refugee checks his phone at home in the
Castro District of San Francisco. © UNHCR/Nick Otto



Forcibly displaced people are
50%
less likely than those not displaced
to have an internet-enabled phone.

According to ITU’s Fast Forward Progress report, 2017, p. 85.

While


20% OF RURAL REFUGEES HAVE NO INTERNET ACCESS.



According to ITU’s Fast Forward Progress report, 2017, p. 85.

Right: Solar radios help teaching continue despite COVID-19, in Mali. ©
UNHCR/Leandro Andres Salazar-Lievano



Connectivity is
a lifeline

Jordan. Refugee community volunteers play role in helping the most vulnerable. ©
UNHCR/Lilly Carlisle

for refugees and their hosts,
but it’s one many still can’t take for granted.

Subhi Nahas, a Syrian LGBTI refugee checks his phone at home in the Castro
District of San Francisco. © UNHCR/Nick Otto

Forcibly displaced people are
50%
less likely than those not displaced to have an internet-enabled phone.

Mali. Solar radios help teaching continue despite COVID-19. © UNHCR Leandro
Andres Salazar-Lievano

While
20%
of rural refugees
have no internet access


KEY CONNECTIVITY-RELATED ISSUES

UNRELIABLE ELECTRICITY

UNSTABLE INTERNET

UNAFFORDABLE DEVICES

UNAFFORDABLE CONNECTIVITY

LOW DIGITAL LITERACY

UNFAVOURABLE POLICY AND REGULATORY ENVIRONMENTS


TOGETHER WE CAN ENSURE


OUR CONNECTED WORLD


LEAVES NO ONE BEHIND.


GLOBAL REFUGEE FORUM 2023


PLEDGE: CONNECTIVITY FOR REFUGEES

DAFI students attend a workshop in Berlin held by Kiron, an NGO providing open
access to education for refugees through digital solutions. © UNHCR/Gordon
Welters


KEY OBJECTIVES

For those forced to flee, meaningful connectivity can bring access to
life-saving information, online learning opportunities, new sources of income,
and more. This Global Refugee Forum pledge aims to mobilize the expertise,
resources, and investment we need to meet our goal of ensuring all major refugee
hosting areas have available and affordable connectivity by 2030, advancing the
digital inclusion of more than 20 million people forced to flee and their hosts.

The pledge will bring together a wide coalition of actors dedicated to providing
connectivity to forcibly displaced and stateless people and the communities that
host them. It will enable coordinated action, resource mobilization, knowledge
sharing, and progress monitoring – ultimately ensuring pledges are met and
communities are connected.



SUPPORTERS COMMIT TO TAKE ACTION ON:


ENABLING POLICY AND REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT

Fostering an enabling policy and regulatory environment for building and
expanding connectivity infrastructure, including sustainable power supply, along
with lifting legal barriers to individual access to services.


CONNECTIVITY SOLUTIONS

Understanding connectivity levels and needs in refugee hosting areas, providing
connectivity infrastructure, piloting new business models for advancing
connectivity, and building evidence-based pathways for sustainable, inclusive
connectivity solutions.


CONNECTING KEY FACILITIES

Ensuring key facilities in areas hosting refugees and internally displaced
people – for instance, schools, health centres,  and community centres – are
connected to the internet, and that community members enjoy access to both
devices and relevant content.

Find out more about the

Connectivity for Refugees agenda

Microsoft partner C3 LTD’s technicians install the tower for Microsoft
Connectivity for Refugees project at Dzaleka Refugee Camp UNHCR office, in Dowa
District, Malawi. © UNHCR/Amos Gumulira


BACKGROUND AND SYNERGIES

This pledge builds on and recognizes commitments made at the 2019 Global Refugee
Forum and at the High-Level Officials Meeting toward enhancing connectivity for
forcibly displaced communities. This transformational agenda can only be
achieved with committed, innovative, shared-value partnerships.

GRF process and pledges

This pledge, as part of the Global Refugee Forum process links closely with, the
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)’s Partner2Connect Digital Coalition.
UNHCR and ITU are coordinating to ensure that those contributing to this shared
agenda are recognized on both platforms.

Partner2Connect


INITIATIVE PARTNERS



This pledge is co-convened by UNHCR, ITU, GSMA, and the Government of
Luxembourg. A wide and growing network of partners across government, private
sector, international and regional organizations, NGOs, and community-led
organizations have either contributed pledges or expressed interest.

Contributions by partners and stakeholders are welcomed

Make a contribution

For further details or information, contact us at:

hqconref@unhcr.org   |   m4h@gsma.com   |   sgo@itu.int 


TIMELINE





ONLINE LAUNCH

October 2023

Register now



PLEDGE DEVELOPMENT

November 2023




GLOBAL REFUGEE FORUM SIDE EVENT

December 2023




DELIVERY OF COMMITMENTS

January 2024 onward

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