Our mission:
To provide free access to data networks for refugees with disabilities.

A young male refugee from the rohingya genocide cries with relief as he listens on a mobile telephone to family members he was seperated from while fleeing violence

“People think of wheelchairs, but the most enabling piece of assistive technology for anyone with a disability is a phone.”

— UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Official

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 90% of the 1 Billion people worldwide who need it don’t have access to the assistive technology they need to live autonomous, independent, and safe lives.

In 2020 alone, 13.2 million People with a Disability (PWD) become refugees as they fled war and crisis around the world, immediately becoming at high risk of being abandoned, abused, murdered, or exploited.

Having network access means more than being able to call for help in an emergency, the relentless digitisation of basic services leaves many people with disabilities disadvantaged.

Assistive technology (AT) on smartphones often requires network access to work. Apps like sign-language translators and seeing eye apps require remote video connection. Without phone credit for data to use these apps people can be left without a voice.

Even within refugee camps, charities struggle to find and help refugees with a disability because they are hidden by their families. A phone provides indepenndence and a voice to those who need it.

“There is also the issue of visibility of refugees with disabilities. We do not see them because they are kept inside as their family feels it is a shame that a member has a disability”

UNHCR

  • We send phone top-ups directly to the phones of refugees with a disability.

    Using online tools we can accept applications, verify eligibility and send top-up credit directly to a disabled refugee’s phones almost anywhere in the world.

    Our emergency top-ups enable people to find safety, arrange medical or logistical help from the charities deployed on the ground.

    With no paid staff or advisors, no expensive deployments or logistical chains, and by our use of free online tools we maximise the impact of every donation.

  • A world in which no disabled refugee lives without network access.

    We want to destroy the poverty of communication for refugees with disabilities.

    Refugees with disabilities are too often hidden, neglected or socially excluded from equal access to medical, social, educational, and economic opportunities.

    Refugees physically unable to access places of food distribution are at risk of exploitation and food-theft from ‘helpers’.

    Phone-credit allows disabled refugees to directly connect with Disabled Persons Organisations (DPOs) who are on the ground and able to help.

    With access to mobile networks refugees with a disability gain equal access to the safety, aid, and opportunities available to others.

  • Our data about the challenges faced by refugees with disabilities will help inform policies.

    When it comes to data about refugees and disability, too much is unknown. The UNHCR reports of people with disabilities being hidden by their own families to avoid the social stigma associated with disabilities in some cultures. People with disabilities are often refused identity documents by their own governments, not even being seen as fellow humans. Having network access allows refugees with disability to tell us their own story and give us a more accurate picture of the causes, effects, and needs of refugees with a disability.

  • The Dangers of the digital poverty gap for refugees with a disability

    Multiple factors such a fewer social contacts, lower income, and stigma combine to place People with Disabilities (PWD) in a precarious situation of communication-poverty and discrimination when disaster or conflict strikes, leaving them at a higher risk of abandonment, exploitation, or abuse.

    Without a phone or credit to initiate contact, Humanitarian Aid Agencies struggle to find refugees with a disability and provide assistance.

    Inaccessible assistance programs worsen levels of poverty, illiteracy, social exclusion, and lack of appropriate medical care, creating an amalgamation of issues that disproportionately effect refugees and migrants with disabilities.

    As more public services and support systems become ‘digital by default’, there’s an increased risk that refugees with disabilities are being left behind, and endangered, when technology products and services are not accessible due to digital poverty..

There are parts of the world where the stigma of a disability means simply existing can be dangerous. These dangers are compounded when a person with disabilities also belongs to other minority groups by way of age, ethnicity, religion.

33% of Female refugees with a disability report having experienced psychological, physical, or sexual abuse both in natural disasters and conflicts.

refugee camps and distribution centers inaccessible to disabled refugees

Refugee camps and aid distribution centers are often inaccessible or dangerous environments for many people with disabilities, who report higher instance of theft, abuse, and exploitation.