Beginning today, Safaricom subscribers can search for and reconnect with their loved ones using their mobile phone via an application provided by Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) and Refugees United. The application enables refugees to use mobile phones to register themselves, search for loved ones, and subsequently reconnect via an anonymous database.
The initiative is being launched today in Kenya, to mark the World Refugee Day and in support of the hundreds of thousands of people who have fled from conflict and disaster areas, reconnecting families and friends through the innovative use of mobile communications and internet.
The new mobile tool enables refugees to access Refugees United’s mobile site - http://m.refunite.org, register themselves (in English, Kiswahili, Somali or Arabic), search for and subsequently reconnect with loved ones. Once registered, the information is stored in an anonymous database that is maintained by Refugees United. It can then be accessed by individuals as well as NGOs and international organizations caring for displaced people, to rapidly search for matches. Without the program, locating displaced family members can take years when relying on traditional paper based systems.

The mobile application is being deployed to augment existing access to the Refugees United’s internet service (www.refunite.org).With more than 17 million Safaricom subscribers in Kenya today, as compared to the estimated 820’000 PC owners with access to internet (2 percent of the population of Kenya), the service via mobile phones is the obvious tool for this kind of support in Kenya and will soon be extended to allow SMS access by Safaricom customers.

Safaricom CEO, Mr. Bob Collymore: “This is a great and innovative partnership for us. It not only expands the utility one can derive from being connected to the Safaricom network, but also provides a live example of the inclusiveness we seek in all our operations. Through this service, a very vulnerable segment of our society now has a real chance of being re-united with their loved ones. The service typifies the spirit of problem-solving innovation for societal good that has been the guiding philosophy for our business over the years.”

The aim of this initiative is to register 120,000 people on the service by the end of 2011. The program was piloted in Adjumani Refugee settlement in Uganda together with UNHCR. Refugees United have confirmed that in the past 9 months, more than 41,000 have registered in their search for missing family.

David Troensegaard, Co-founder, Refugees United: “We are tremendously excited to further our work in Kenya in partnership with Safaricom, enabling us to reach, and help, many more separated refugee families through their one link to the world: Mobile phones. This partnership will help us reach many more people with critical information about this new possibility to potentially restore contact with missing loved ones.”

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres: “UNHCR is pleased to join with Ericsson to broaden the availability of the Refugees United application to a number of markets, both in the developed and developing world.  Helping refugees locate their loved ones using mobile text messages and mobile internet is one of the many ways in which technology is changing our world and helping people reconnect.  Ensuring this is done in a way that respects the privacy and security of individual refugees, UNHCR is proud to participate in this pioneering and highly successful initiative”.

The majority of the refugees are in the camps as a result of civil unrest over the last 40 years and, more recently, a series of natural and climate related disasters in the East Africa. According to the latest figures in the 2011 report published by the UNHCR, this population has risen by 8% since September, 2010 to nearly 1.4 million. According to the 2010 report published by the UNHCR, the number of refugees world-wide currently sits at 43 million.

Lucy Kiama, Executive Director, RCK (Refugee Consortium of Kenya), Refugees United's implementing partner in Kenya, comments”: This marks another milestone in reconnecting refugees with their loved ones. It is a chance to keep hope alive for them as they try to cope with the dire circumstances that they find themselves in. RCK is proud to be the local partner for such an innovative initiative. The tracing project rolled out in Nairobi, Dadaab and Kakuma has the aim to help such vulnerable people”.

Emmanual Jal, Sudanese musician, former refugee and child soldier - now a voice for the refugee cause, held a concert at the University of Nairobi grounds in support of World Refugee Day.  He commented: "It is amazing and heart-warming how powerful and life changing this new technology is - it will change the lives of millions of refugees worldwide. Just in eastern Africa, there are more then 10% of the world’s 43 million refugees. Thank-you to all who have participated to make this happen!"

Craig Hosken, Managing Director of Ericsson Kenya and Vice-President for sub-Saharan Africa comments; “Through the use of technology, in particular mobile communications, we aim to significantly increase the chances of people finding each other, so that this number can be dramatically reduced.