A look at case studies conducted in Syria, Peru, Indonesia and Kenya. Presented by: Buhlebomzi Ndukwana

 Delivering Food aid to Iraqi refugees in Syria  Facilitating Communication in emergency situations: Peru, Indonesia

 WFP had to make choices about who they provide with food aid  The estimate was that were in need of food aid  WFP was looking for innovative ways to stretch the donations  The problem was distribution

 “…we started distributing food to refugees in Damascus, but how were we going to announce distribution?”-Haitham El Noush  The refugees had access to mobile phones  The idea of using text messages was born…  WFP contacted a local cell phone provider  The company agreed to sponsor the first 800 text messages free  Eventually an account was set up, to lower costs

 Messages targeted only on the phone numbers on the list  People assuming that the message was an entitlement  People not checking eligibility on the provided website  People changing phone numbers

 The 800 free messages were successful  In the first six months messages were sent reaching eligible people  Messages successfully delivered to families  Families felt a sense of being cared for  The programme has grown

 They use PDAs for bigger data sets  Simple mobile phone for smaller data  It makes their work easier as well as that of data entry clerks  The next step is tablets  Data collection is 20-30% faster  Neo Neo

 15 August 2007, an earthquake struck the coast of Peru  Brought buildings down and disrupted communications  Emergency aid was dispatched from all over the world  These groups would need communication technology  Someone had to help in this regard

 Founded in 1998, headquarters in Pau France  Workers are volunteers: university graduates and professionals over 50 years  Initially to provide disaster survivors with 3minute calls to families  Use mainly satellite communication equipment  Equipment is constantly upgraded and developed to meet the rapidly changing needs

 Keeping up with changes in technology  Determining ways to best adapt new technologies to meet needs in the field  Ensuring sustainability

 After assignments, staff conduct a debriefing  TSF is looking to expand the use of their facilities  Looking for ways to open cyber cafes in relief areas  Exploring ways to play a greater role in prevention efforts  Also looking at expanding the use of mobile technology

 Mobile technology recently played a role in a humanitarian situation  Social media in the “Egyptian revolution”  Facebook and YouTube campaigns  “technosociality”

 “this is not the future, it’s the now ”- Andrew trench