- REFUNITE and Education Above All (EAA) to form a partnership
- A pilot project titled m-Health will be launched in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya
- REFUNITE’s co-founders will be in Doha for the announcement
On November 5th 2014, Education Above All (EAA) will host an event at the Qatar National Conference Centre in Doha. REFUNITE’s co-founders will attend the event alongside organizations specialized in refugee assistance.
As part of an ongoing effort to address barriers to education, EAA and REFUNITE will launch a pilot information project known as m-Health. This new initiative seeks to change the way information on health is delivered in refugee camps.
Education Above All is a global initiative spearheaded by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser of Qatar. With a particular focus on areas affected by poverty and conflict, EAA champions quality education for children and youth.
During the event in Doha, EAA will launch the The Kakuma Project, which brings together a wide range of partners, including experts in construction, management, solar technology, sports, water and sanitation. m-Health will be part of The Kakuma Project and will focus on providing education through REFUNITE′s platform.
“Self-empowerment is at the heart of m-Health. While technology makes the process easier, the real impact comes from educating refugees and innovators to educate themselves. Having assisted over 30,000 refugees in Kakuma, piloting m-Health information is a natural extension of our current activities,” says David Mikkelsen, Co-Founder of REFUNITE.
REFUNITE is a non-profit tech organization whose mission is to empower forcibly displaced families to reconnect digitally. Among other things, REFUNITE is behind the award-winning family-reconnection platform refunite.org, which has more than 350,000 users.
The m-Health information project builds on REFUNITE’s in-depth expertise in technology for refugees and leverages mobile technology to educate refugees on issues such as Malaria, Ebola, HIV and Cholera.
Leonardo Pinheiro, Director of Strategy, Policy and Research for EAA, says: “The Kakuma Project represents an innovative approach to providing education in a conflict-affected community. Not a relief effort, The Kakuma Project focuses on improving camp infrastructure and providing educational opportunities to residents of all ages in order to give them the confidence, skills and knowledge necessary for self-reliance. Together with our partners, EAA seeks to give the residents of the Kakuma Refugee Camp the tools and agency they need to create a better future for themselves.”
The goal is for m-Health information to be accessible through various devices – even without access to the Internet. All that refugees need is a low-end phone. Data will be collected through interactive games and quizzes.
Upon successful implementation in Kakuma, the m-Health pilot project will be scaled rapidly in other camps in Africa and the Middle East.
MEDIA CONTACT
Ida Jeng, Director of Global Communications and Strategy for REFUNITE (ij@refunite.org)
Rachel Ombaka, Online Editor for REFUNITE (rom@refunite.org)
Photo Credit: HHOPL
