The technology issue (Forced Migration Review 38): Recent Episodes
Oxford University
The 32 articles and short pieces in the feature theme section of FMR 38 look at the effects of changes in technology – particularly in communications technology – on displaced people and those who work with them. FMR 38 also includes eight articles on other forced migration subjects. This issue is available in English, French, Spanish and Arabic.
See more at: http://www.fmreview.org/technology
Recent research in six countries in Africa, Europe and Latin America highlights a range of factors that may help or hinder integration.
In the complex relationship between forced migration and transitional justice, a visit by the Kenyan Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission to a refugee settlement in Uganda seems to mark a significant step.
For many refugees and other forced migrants, sexual and gender-based violence does not necessarily stop after resettlement; for some, that may be when it starts.
Experience indicates that significant challenges remain across key humanitarian operational approaches relating to the needs of growing numbers of IDPs and refugees who migrate to cities.
Refugees and asylum seekers suffered restrictions on movement, increased impoverishment and shortage of essential information.
Language skills are crucial for the integration of refugees into the local community. In the Czech Republic, all persons granted international protection have the legal right to language tuition but there are shortcomings in provision.
Turbulence in North Africa and the Middle East has forced many to flee their homes and countries. One woman in Cairo, on the brink of flight, considers her options.
Political unrest in North Africa has led to a resurgence in irregular migration to Europe and an increase in migrant deaths at sea, yet there is still no framework for identifying those who die or recording their numbers.
The availability of information through new technologies is challenging existing power relations and current ways of working, and we may not be prepared for the consequences.
The current multitude of sources of information paradoxically renders access to good quality Country of Origin Information for refugee status determination procedures quite cumbersome.
Can a collaborative web-platform for sharing critical demographic information about displaced people improve delivery and response?
New partnerships are being forged to encourage young engineers to use their skills in the service of refugees.
Capitalising on the spread of mobile phones and the internet, new digital tools can help refugees trace missing family members. Security of data is a vital aspect of any such tools.
Internet-based technologies are changing the way refugees are able to remain connected to their origins while adjusting to life in a new country.
As drought forces hundreds of thousands of Somalis to flee to Kenya and Ethiopia or to displaced camps within Somali territories, providing financial services might not seem an immediate priority.
nternet cafés in refugee camps allow refugees to maintain and create networks for overseas remittances. For many displaced people, maintaining these ties is vital.
Ushahidi is an interactive mapping tool for use in crisis situations, which humanitarian workers can use to help them target assistance.
Simply having access to technology does not resolve the problem of communication between displaced people and their families.
UNHCR has developed Project Tracking and IDP databases for its work in Iraq in order to facilitate its operations at a lower risk to all stakeholders and to improve financial accountability, oversight and transparency.
Geospatial technologies such as satellite imagery provide a means of 'reaching' a conflict zone when on-the-ground reporting may be too dangerous, a region too remote, or access denied.
Forced migration authors hold the key to enabling free and unfettered access to the full text of research articles.
A recent strategic partnership between UNHCR, the Government of Luxembourg and communications software provider Skype is keeping UNHCR staff in hardship locations in touch with their families and friends.
Do new technologies increase access to information and knowledge for all, or are they deepening a technological divide?
The use of new technologies for early warning systems can help reduce people's vulnerability to mass violence.
The lack of higher education opportunities for refugees, many of whom flee before being able to complete their education, is a widely acknowledged problem.
Advances in information and communications technology are offering new solutions to a range of operational challenges experienced in the field. Can the humanitarian community's providers of telecommunications services keep up with the pace of change?
The traditional disaster response community is only now beginning to assimilate the vast changes that new technologies could bring for information management in their field.
The 2010 earthquake in Haiti ushered in a new era for the role and power of technology and communication systems in disaster response, especially for how local responders used them.