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In this episode, I’m talking with Joséphine Goube, Chief Executing Officer of Techfugees.
Techfugees describes itself as “a social enterprise mobilising the international tech community to respond to the refugee situation. Techfugees organises conferences, workshops and hackathons around the world in an effort to supply a pool of tech solutions and tech talent to NGOs working with refugees, and refugees themselves.”
In our conversation, I explore what Techfugees does and what they’re learned acting at the intersection of technology developers and human service providers. Joséphine shares a number of important insights for any civic techies or human service workers looking to collaborate to provide technology-based services or information solutions for refugees, and other vulnerable populations.
This includes:
- principles around privacy and personal security that need to be considered when refugees, NGOs, and the tech community come together to develop solutions
- what techies need to keep in mind when working on “solutions” related to migration and refugee flows in receiving/host communities
- tips for NGOs planning to use technology to improve refugee circumstances in host communities
- advice do you have for NGOs who need to work techies
- advice for policy makers and potential funders or sponsors of technology initiatives in human service work.
Resources:
- Techfugees
- Basefugees – Techfugees’ platform that matches technology solutions to NGO “challenges” with the aim of solving real-world problems faced by refugees.
- Cities of Migration webinar recording – Online/Offline: How Technology Can Empower Local Refugee Communities – featuring Joséphine and Alan Vernon, Project Lead, Connectivity for Refugees, UNHCR
- SINGA International Study 2014 – Refugees and ICTs (PDF)
- UNHCR report, Connecting Refugees – How Internet and Mobile Connectivity Can Improve Refugee Well-Being and Transform Humanitarian Action (PDF)