A net and a phone call for refugees

As many of you know, Nothing But Nets has partnered with the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) to send life-saving bed nets to refugee camps throughout Eastern Africa. After a recent surge in violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the distribution of these nets has become more crucial than ever. Nothing But Nets is working with UNHCR to respond to the more than 60,000 Congolese citizens who have been forced into refugee camps in neighboring Uganda.    

What you may not know is that the United Nations Foundation, a founding partner of Nothing But Nets, is also helping in a number of ways to protect and support refugees in Africa.

In addition to providing bed nets for the unexpected influx of children and families throughout Uganda, the UN Foundation, through its partnership with the Vodafone Foundation, is helping to reconnect families who may have been separated by the conflict in DRC. The Partnership recently supported the deployment of a team of telecommunications specialists from the France-based non-profit group Télécoms Sans Frontières to Uganda to establish ‘humanitarian calling operations.’ In camps without phones or even electricity, the operations provide free 3-minute phone calls for Congolese refugees to contact family and loved ones. The UN Foundation’s support enabled the telecommunications team to install satellite-based Internet connections and technical equipment for humanitarian agency response. As you can see in the photo, this type of support is priceless for a person whose life has been uprooted. 

Through the Nothing But Nets campaign and its strategic Technology Partnership, the UN Foundation is broadly supporting the various needs of refugees in Africa by saving lives and helping to improve the quality of life for some of the most vulnerable people in the world.