Humanitarian technology at work in Syria
The conflict in Syria erupted in 2011 when a wave of anti-government protests sprang up around the region. The war has already taken 220,000 lives, and 7.6 million people have been displaced from their homes within the country. 4 million people from Syria have become refugees or are seeking asylum in other countries. In total, 16 million people are currently in need of assistance as a result of the Syrian conflict.
The scale of the conflict and the complexity of people’s needs has put an enormous strain on responding organisations, and made it necessary for new advances in technology to play a part. CARE staff have been using mobile phone technology in order to improve the way they support communities affected by the conflict in Syria.
Using mobile phones to help people displaced by conflict in Syria
Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, is currently home to thousands of people from around the country who have been displaced over the last 5 years. They are living in areas with limited amenities, with many struggling with both physical and psychological injuries.
CARE staff have been working to improve the water, sanitation and hygiene conditions for people in camps and temporary accommodation over the last 12 months. This vital work has helped to give people in a dangerous and precarious situation a better chance at staying healthy and safe whilst displaced from their homes.
CARE staff have been using a digital tool called Kobo Toolbox to monitor and evaluate the success of these projects. It is a mobile app designed specifically for data collection by humanitarian aid workers, and it hasenabled CARE staff to quickly collect data on phones and tablets, and to upload and assess the information instantly. This helped staff to swiftly understand how successful the project had been, and identify which of the community’s remaining needs were the most pressing priorities.
Mobile phones in aid work
Mobile phones are widely used by people Syria, where there are 87 mobile phones for every 100 people, and mobile phone networks provide coverage for 96% of the population. Tools and apps have enabled people to do things to help keep them safe in the conflict, such as keeping track of loved ones, finding shelter and transferring money to those in need. Mobile phones are likely to become every more a part of aid work as beneficiary populations become more connected.
Mobile phones are an increasingly vital part of the aid worker’s toolkit, and advances in technology are constantly providing us with new opportunities to improve our work. At CARE we are dedicated to utilising these advances to improve our accountability, efficiency and effectiveness when supporting vulnerable populations. To read more about how CARE will incorporate digital into our strategy in 2016, take a look at this article about our new Entrepreneur in Residence, Ken Banks.