Google and UN Partner to Track Refugees

Here’s an interesting story from AFP on a novel use of technology:

The United Nations refugee agency on Tuesday unveiled a new partnership with Internet giant Google to help track refugees from Iraq to Darfur and raise public awareness of its work.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) launched its new service using the “Google Earth Outreach” programme, which allows organisations to add their own data and information as a “layer” on top of the existing Google Earth service.

The UNHCR layer shows three of the agency’s main refugee operations — Iraq, Darfur and Colombia — as well as providing an overview of its structure, mandate and wider operations.

Users can click on an icon of a camp for Darfur refugees in Chad, for example, and read pop-up windows detailing everyday life for the refugees, their histories and the challenges aid agencies face in ensuring their health and livelihoods.

“Google Earth is a very powerful way for UNHCR to show the vital work that it is doing in some of the world’s most remote and difficult displacement situations,” said UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner Craig Johnstone. Click here for the rest of the story.

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