The United Nations is seeking $20 million in core support and approximately $200 million in direct investment and contributions to expand efforts in Chad and other refugee-hosting countries to enable connectivity for forcibly displaced people and local communities by 2030.
The Connectivity for Refugees (CfR)initiative was launched in 2023 as a pledge to mobilise resources to provide all major refugee hosting areas with accessible and affordable Internet. It is implemented by the organisation through its partner agencies; UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
During a two-day joint visit to the Central African country, which concluded on Friday, the parties sought to cement the regulatory and infrastructure framework to expand CfR, noted a joint statement.
As Chad is home to around 1.5 million refugees, mainly Sudanese, the UN agencies underlined how connectivity is transforming lives of vulnerable communities, with the refugees and Chadians using digital tools to access education, financial services, and healthcare; taking steps toward greater stability and self-reliance.
CfR aims to unlock Internet access to 20 million people across the country and other refugee-hosting regions and has since evolved into a public-private partnership active in other nations, including Ethiopia, Uganda, Mauritania, Egypt, and Rwanda. Each programme is tailored to local needs, mapping communities most in need to expand connectivity.
To further support the ambitious plan, the organisations are calling on partners across sectors to help scale the strategy, this includes expanding infrastructure and lifting regulatory barriers to individual access for displaced people.
"In Chad, we witnessed first-hand how connectivity can restore dignity and hope for displaced people and host communities. The CfR initiative opens doors to digital opportunity in places where connection to the Internet is a lifeline, not a luxury. Now, more than ever, we must act and extend that lifeline so that no one is left behind,” said Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU secretary-general.
UNHCR deputy high commissioner Kelly T. Clements added: “Our goal is ambitious, connecting 20 million forcibly displaced people and their hosts by 2030. We’ve shifted gears, and are starting to deliver results which will help create resilient, inclusive communities. But we need to keep pushing.”
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