Identifying opportunities for sustainable, community-owned connectivity solutions to transform lives, facilitate greater inclusion, and boost self-reliance. The first in a two-part series. By Erika Perez, Innovation Officer Challenge: Forcibly displaced communities face connectivity challenges, leading to low social inclusion, heightened vulnerability. Innovation: Implementing a community network to break down connectivity…

A collaboration between UNHCR’s Ethics Office and Innovation Service revealed some interesting insights about anticipating ethical decision-making. By Amy Lynn Smith — Independent Writer + Strategist Let’s try an experiment. You’re walking down the street and you find a wallet on the ground. No one else is around, so you…

Building a connected future for displaced people. Part 2 of 2 By Tala Budziszewski, Associate Innovation Officer, Digital Inclusion, Asia and the Pacific You can find lessons on YouTube for almost anything these days: How to fix your bike, how to cook with zero waste, how to make that weird…

Building a connected future for displaced people. Part 1 of 2. By Tala Budziszewski — Associate Innovation Officer, Digital Inclusion Asia and the Pacific Imagine that you suddenly went back in time and no longer knew how to use your mobile phone, your computer, or the many devices most people…

The second in a two-part series celebrating the winners of the 2022 UNHCR NGO Innovation Award. By Amy Lynn Smith — Independent Writer + Strategist The annual UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) NGO Innovation Award recognizes non-governmental organizations using innovative approaches to assist and empower refugees and other displaced people. The…

The first in a two-part series celebrating the winners of the 2022 UNHCR NGO Innovation Award. By Amy Lynn Smith — Independent Writer + Strategist Each year, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) NGO Innovation Award recognizes non-governmental organizations using innovative approaches to assist and empower refugees and other displaced people…

UNHCR Uganda is capturing people’s lived experiences to improve decision-making, responsiveness, and accountability. By Amy Lynn Smith — Independent Writer + Strategist Imagine you’re a refugee living in one of the settlements in Uganda — the UN Refugee Agency’s (UNHCR’s) largest operation in Africa — and the water pump where…

UNHCR Bangladesh is taking action with imaginative and pragmatic programs to protect the environment, wildlife, and people in alignment with UNHCR’s mandate. By Amy Lynn Smith — Independent Writer + Strategist As the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) launches the Innovation, Environment and Resilience Fund, we’re exploring — and listening to…

UNHCR Bangladesh is among the operations leading the way in developing novel solutions to address climate change and the human impact on the environment. By Amy Lynn Smith — Independent Writer + Strategist As the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) launches the Innovation, Environment and Resilience Fund, we’re exploring — and…