Africa's first ever refugee social network was launched in Uganda on September 3 on a pilot basis where refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) will be able to trace their family or friends through a mobile phone.
According to Refugees United, an international non-governmental organisation that will manage the project supported by Ericsson and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), refugees will use their mobile phones to register themselves, search for loved ones and subsequently reconnect via an anonymous data base using SMS.
Kai Nielsen, UNHCR Representative in Uganda, described the pilot project which will run until the end of next year as an important step toward a global partnership in which even the least fortunate people in the world can stay connected through innovative and accessible technology. There are currently about 150,000 refugees in East Africa's Uganda.
According to Refugees United, if the pilot project is successful it will be rolled out in other countries on the continent. Africa hosts approximately 2.1 million refugees and over six million IDPs, according to UNHCR statistics. — Xinhua
