Why Connectivity is About More Than Technology
How partnerships enable digital solutions for refugees, including mobile money. The second in a two-part series on digital inclusion.
By Amy Lynn Smith — Writer + Strategist
If you haven’t read part one of this series, start there. Because just like this series of two stories, everything is connected — especially when the topic is digital inclusion.
The UN Refugee Agency’s (UNHCR’s) goal of integrating refugees into their host communities includes ensuring that refugees and other people of concern can connect with loved ones and access life-enhancing services like mobile money. The ability of refugees and other people of concern to have formally recognized identification is an issue of importance not only to local governments but also to companies such as mobile network operators, telecommunications companies, and even the providers of digital financial services, who all stand to benefit from literally millions of refugees who would otherwise not be able to take advantage of their offerings.
So when UNHCR began to focus its digital inclusion efforts, it was essential to engage everyone who might be impacted by broader connectivity, from external partners to various units within UNHCR. John Warnes, an Innovation Officer (Digital Inclusion) in UNHCR’s Innovation Service, played a significant role in research and implementation. One early output was a report called “Displaced and Disconnected,” a research study undertaken by a multifunctional team including digital identity, cash-based interventions, and financial inclusion experts that continues to be a blueprint for implementation.
Much like the journey, UNHCR is on to bring connectivity to all refugees, its work with partners has required a step-wise approach.
Step 1: Get buy-in and support from industry and government
As was the case in Uganda, the first success story in this journey (see part one), getting mobile network operators to see the value in erecting cell towers and improving connectivity in what they consider rural areas — but where hundreds of thousands of refugees live in settlements — was critical. After all, mobile network operators are in business to make money, so UNHCR had to make the case that it was worth their effort.
UNHCR and the mobile industry have a mutual interest in connecting the unconnected, including forcibly displaced people, making them powerful allies.
Early on in its journey, UNHCR joined forces with the global mobile industry association GSMA. Fortunately, GSMA already had a commitment to both digital identity — and humanitarian innovation.
“Part of our work supports partnerships and projects that are development-focused and not necessarily commercially sustainable,” says Yiannis Theodorou, former Senior Director of both the Digital Identity Program and Policy & Advocacy, Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation Program at GSMA. “The mission and vision of our program is to accelerate the delivery and impact of digital humanitarian aid. Our close collaboration with UNHCR has allowed us to convene the relevant parties around the table — mobile network operators, regulators, and humanitarian partners — to discuss, highlight, and unblock the barriers that have traditionally prevented this mission from being realized. A key barrier that we jointly helped overcome in Uganda, for example, has been the recognition by the government of refugee attestation letters as ‘forms of ID’ that could be used to register SIM cards and mobile-money wallets in a refugee’s own name.”
Just like UNHCR, GSMA understands the multi-faceted approach to connectivity that’s required for true digital inclusion. In fact, GSMA created a case study documenting work on access to mobile technology in Uganda and two other contexts. There must be network reception, access to phones, and digital literacy, as well as legal and regulatory frameworks that allow refugees and other people to access a SIM card in their own name. There is certainly strength in numbers of an organization such as GSMA, which represents more than 800 mobile operators. However, as some mobile operators work within difficult and highly politicized contexts, they may be reluctant to engage in shifting government regulation.
Step 2: Share learnings and resources to reach a shared goal
Erdoo Yongo, Policy and Advocacy Manager, Digital Identity & Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation, who leads GSMA’s research into mandatory SIM registration, says they already had data on this before joining forces with UNHCR. Because there’s little awareness of the issue — which impacts many other people beyond refugees — she says the collaboration worked well because everyone recognized its importance.
“After we partnered with UNHCR on the research, we felt it was at a place where we could really draw attention to the issue,” Yongo says. “We narrowed it down to a few countries, like Uganda, where we thought we could drive a policy shift. The tangible policy shift we achieved in Uganda, plus the full-bodied research we did together, highlights the brilliance of the project.”
Aaron Martin, a consultant for the Innovation Service who is a researcher at Tilburg Law School in the Netherlands and an expert in data justice and regulatory barriers to access for people of concern, underscores the importance of these kinds of partnerships.
“Although UNHCR’s goals are humanitarian-based, this issue is increasingly important for industry players,” he explains. “They see this as an untapped market opportunity, and requirements around identification and documentation exclude a population they’re increasingly more active in advocating for. It’s interesting to see a space where a humanitarian organization like UNHCR and the industry can come together.”
Through the combined reach of GSMA, UNHCR, and other partners, they have been able to bring the message of the importance of digital inclusion for everyone involved to major convenings such as the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos. According to Theodorou, this has been another mutual benefit of the partnership — and part of the project’s success to date. But there’s more than that.
“Working with UNHCR has been the stepping stone toward us having additional interest from more areas of the UN and other NGOs,” he says. “Our plan moving forward is to keep working together on advocating for these points but also supporting UNHCR in replicating its Displaced and Disconnected methodology in other countries.”
There’s no denying that driving policy change in some countries will be more difficult than in others. As such, he admits ongoing research will be necessary as both technology and regulations evolve — something UNHCR is already doing. GSMA is committed to working with its members and partners to continue putting that research into practice and policy engagement on the ground.
“There have been opportunities on both sides of this partnership where we’ve brought each other into discussions we would not otherwise have been involved in,” Yongo says. “It’s really important to have that opportunity to share and lift each other’s unique messaging — ours from an association standpoint and UNHCR’s as a major humanitarian body. That’s been very positive and I hope we can continue that into the future.”
Step 3: Support digital inclusion goals of other UNHCR units
Moving toward digital-based aid is happening across UNHCR wherever possible, but one area where it’s already fairly advanced is cash-based intervention (CBI). In the past, UNHCR would hand out rations of food and other supplies, then moved to a model of providing cash so people could purchase the items they needed most, a move driven in part by the pursuit of rights and dignity for communities. But there are obvious risks involved in delivering large amounts of cash to settlements and refugees without bank accounts holding onto that cash until they can spend it.
“Refugees need access to financial services, and we want to promote financial inclusion,” says Hanna Mattinen, UNHCR Senior Global Cash Operations Officer. “We would like refugees to open their own bank accounts or have their own mobile phones and SIM cards so they can use mobile money and receive cash assistance.”
Because banks typically don’t set up facilities near refugee settlements, mobile money is a simpler solution. Instead of depositing funds into a traditional bank account, money is “deposited” to a mobile account, which the owner can use to pay bills and make purchases directly from their device. But to use mobile-money services, customers require a SIM card registered in their own name, and — in certain contexts — additional credentials to be able to open a mobile money account.
According to Nicholas Oakeshott, Senior Registration and Identity Management Officer in UNHCR’s Global Data Service, as part of the Displaced and Disconnected research, they brought in some key digital identity partners to validate the findings. These include the World Bank, Caribou Digital, Open Society Foundations, and GSMA, as well as other humanitarian organizations.
“Through existing partnerships with the World Bank’s Identity for Development Programme and Financial Inclusion Global Initiative, we were introduced to a key body that UNHCR hadn’t engaged with before,” he says. “The Financial Action Task
Force sets global standards in areas such as anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing, which the central banks and other regulators refer to in setting Know Your Customer/Customer Due Diligence requirements.”
This led to UNHCR undertaking a year-long engagement with the Task Force, which issued Guidance on Digital Identity in March 2020 recognizing that refugee ID credentials can be trusted by financial service providers as proof of official identity
“This provides an important foundation for country offices to work with partners to further strengthen identity management systems and processes for refugees and advocate for refugee ID to be trusted for accessing risk-based financial services,” Oakeshott says.
This is an important foundation but there is still much to do, Mattinen adds. There are more than 40 countries that UNHCR has now identified where refugees and other people of concern can access digital financial services — but may be prevented from getting the SIM cards needed to use them.
Warnes notes that the approach taken in Uganda with organizations — including the Uganda Communications Commission, GSMA, and United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) — collaborating closely to build a more inclusive policy environment is fast becoming a model for future endeavors pursued in other countries.
“To unblock these sorts of issues, you need to look at the whole picture,” Oakeshott says. “Who are the actors involved at the country level and consider if registration and identity management systems and processes are robust and can be trusted by regulators and financial service providers — and that any risks can be managed appropriately moving forward.”
What’s more, Mattinen says the collaboration worked smoothly despite the complexity of asking UNHCR personnel in the field to take on yet one more activity. “We didn’t really have any major hurdles, because everybody understood this goal is aligned with our protection mandate of including refugees in existing systems,” she explains.
Mattinen adds that the work to date is the first step toward more full-fledged financial inclusion, including an increase in digital and financial literacy — a virtuous cycle that will lead to new livelihood opportunities and a more sustainable income for at least some of the people UNHCR assists.
“There’s no reason why a refugee should be any less able to access these services than anyone else — it’s a rights-based approach because it’s only just for them to have the same level of access in the policy and legal frameworks,” Warnes says. “I rely on my technology in my everyday life to do so many things, and to keep that away from people is actively inhibiting the self-reliance UNHCR is so committed to helping refugees achieve.”
To learn more about UNHCR’s Digital Inclusion work, follow the programme here.
