Communicating Real-Time Needs from Conflict Zones
When it comes to delivering humanitarian aid, it’s already a challenge to assess real-time needs on the ground. What is needed? How much? Who needs it? And where? In areas of armed conflict, there are even more barriers for relief organizations to efficiently deploy their resources, and for the private sector to contribute supplies or services.
Some of these can be physical obstacles such as blocked roads and checkpoints, but there are other less visible obstacles. “These include extensive violence, which can result in denial of access to communication both locally and internationally, as well as significant security risks for humanitarian relief workers in the form of indirect threats, intimidation, and obstruction to their routine activities,” says Hani Bashir, NeedsBot Manager for NeedsList.
Chatbots as an Efficient Solution
In 2017, NeedsList began developing an automated chatbot to help aid workers and organizations working with refugees and in disaster areas to be able to text in their needs from the field. Our hypothesis, developed from years of observation and conversations with aid workers, was that they needed simpler ways to aggregate their needs in real-time. We developed a prototype on Facebook Messenger in English and Spanish, which we tested with aid workers working with refugees in Greece, and with organizations doing disaster recovery in Puerto Rico.
The response was positive, but we wanted to test it in additional contexts. To make this work possible, we applied for a grant through Creating Hope in Conflict: A Humanitarian Grand Challenge. This initiative is a partnership of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the UK Department for International Development, and the Government of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, supported by Grand Challenges Canada.
NeedsBot is a chatbot that allows aid workers to text in urgent supply and human resource needs via instant messaging. These needs are aggregated into a secure database that can be made accessible to multiple stakeholders. Ultimately, the goals for the chatbot are to triage urgent needs in crisis contexts, develop predictive modeling for needs, and to have the ability for the private sector, other NGOs, and government to better understand what’s needed and have a place to meet needs in real-time.
“When there is limited capacity and cellular data, chatbot technology provides a simple two-way communication tool to support humanitarian organizations working directly with affected and disadvantaged communities to communicate their real-time needs,” says Hani.
“It also provides them with the opportunity to collaborate locally and internationally with similar organizations working in the same affected areas to support those needs.”
Empowering Refugee NGOs in Africa
Over the past four months, NeedsList has formalized partnerships to develop, test and deploy a chatbot with nonprofit organizations in Uganda, South Sudan, and potentially Kenya. These groups are working directly or indirectly to support and empower refugee and displaced communities in the region:
Africa Youth Action Network (AYAN) is a youth peace-building and leadership organization founded in June 2015 and is currently registered in South Sudan and in Uganda. The organization supports refugee youth in South Sudan and Uganda with peace-building and education. They believe that Illiteracy is one of the major causes of conflict in South Sudan.
Lira NGO Forum (LNF) was established in 1998 as a voluntary umbrella non-governmental organization (NGO) to represent Civil Society Organization (CSOs) in Northern Uganda in the Lango subregion, with more than 45 local NGOs. LNF believes in networking, partnerships, collaborations, and collective action to help advocate for refugees, disability rights in education, health sector, and human rights protection.
In the next two months, NeedsList will also be partnering with an additional 5–7 local NGOs based in Uganda that are part of the LIRA NGO forum or network, including Truth Evangelistic Fountain, Inc., Rural Initiative for Community Empowerment, Community Empowerment For Rural Development, Arua District NGO Network, Caritas Arua, Ama Cradle for Development, and Global Forum for Development.
Our Partners are Critical in Developing the Technology
Our Toronto-based NeedsBot Manager, Hani Bashir, has created and deployed virtual training materials including documents and videos, in order to orient aid workers on how to effectively use the chatbot in the field. He has also using different social media platforms to communicate and stay connected with participating team members in South Sudan and Uganda to share questions, comments, and feedback about the tool, and to share updates, so the NeedsBot is continually being improved to better serve the users’ needs.
“It’s a life changing experience — everyday I learn how to be a better humanitarian, person, and worker,” says Hani. “I like the way we connect and interact with our NeedsBot partners in the field. They are very dedicated, responsible, and are truly conscious of the circumstances of the lives of people in their communities, and they want to help them by developing, testing, and improving chatbot technology.”
In the next few months, we’ll be traveling to Uganda to do user testing in the field, where Hani will be able to interact in person with our partners. This will allow him to get a first-hand understanding of their experiences on the ground, to know what it’s like to use this new technology in the face of daily obstacles. Stay tuned for further updates about the development of NeedsBot and how it will potentially change the lives of hard-to-reach communities in Africa.
