* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Humanitarian workers are finding innovative solutions to respond to the needs of more than one million Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
The international relief organisation Medair is one of dozens of agencies helping refugees in Lebanon’s informal settlements. With 1,227 settlements spread throughout the country, good coordination among agencies is essential to determine where there are gaps in unmet needs and to eliminate any overlap in the delivery of aid.
Medair is leveraging new technologies to improve agency coordination and to benefit the overall humanitarian response.
“I have seen first-hand the power of technology to alleviate suffering and to streamline efficacy across the organisation. I am so grateful to our partners for their support as I see the power behind technology moving our programmes forward,” said Rob Fielding, Medair’s Programme Support Officer for Shelter, Technology, and Innovation.
Last Mile Mobile Solutions (LMMS)
Medair and World Vision are partnering in the use of an innovative mobile application that makes it easier for Medair to assess and provide urgent relief distributions for Syrian refugees. The Last Mile Mobile Solutions (LMMS) uses tablets to input biographical data about refugees into a secured database. Each refugee then receives a photo ID card with a bar code number for their settlement, allowing Medair staff to rapidly track refugees and distribute relief items.
“Through software designed and developed by World Vision International, vulnerable people from the Syrian crisis are benefiting from technology that preserves dignity in how emergency aid is received,” said World Vision Technology Team Leader, Jay Narhan. “Moreover, the systems are helping to introduce new levels of operational efficiencies for Medair.”
GIS Mapping
Medair is the lead agency for collecting and managing detailed data on informal settlements in Lebanon, thanks to generous funding from the European Union and the UN Relief Agency, UNHCR. Medair maps all settlements in the Bekaa Valley and is training another five agencies to map the other four regions of Lebanon.
Medair’s GIS team conducts monthly sweeps of all the settlements in the Bekaa Valley and receives data about other settlements in the country, all of which are collected and uploaded by UNHCR to a Google Earth application. UNHCR, which is responsible for coordinating the humanitarian response for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, along with other humanitarian agencies, has access to the settlement data and maps which help them improve their response and track interventions.
To facilitate data collection, Medair is collaborating in Lebanon with Esri Inc., a software company based in the USA, to utilise its ArcGIS Platform. ArcGIS adapts mapping technology to a mobile application that users can access on mobile digital devices. Medair adapted the ArcGIS application so its staff can perform sweeps of the Bekaa Valley with mobile teams to map the coordinates of informal settlements and their population.
Insights and Innovation
To capitalise on the power of these two data sets (LMMS and GIS), Medair’s corporate partner, Qlik, is building an application with Alyotech ME, an international partner serving the Middle East from Lebanon, to merge the data sets and provide analysis using QlikView software.
“Medair’s work with Syrian refugees is exceptional, and we’re proud that QlikView can be used to help integrate disparate sets of locational data to give the organisation a better overview of their settlements,” said Peter McQuade, vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility at Qlik. “With this, they can streamline their work and target the correct locations—ensuring they are reaching out to some of the world’s most vulnerable people in the most effective way possible.”
Medair will continue to develop strong technology components within its programmes.
“Medair is committed to the application of technology and innovation to relieve suffering and to maximise our ability to meet desperate humanitarian needs,” said Rob Fielding.
Funding for Medair’s GIS project has come from the generous support of the European Commission Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection, and the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR.
For media
Please contact Abigail Woodcook, Press Relations Officer (English) abigail.woodcock@medair.org
+41 (0)21 694 84 72 or +41 (0)78 635 30 95
For inquiries and interviews from Lebanon, please contact Megan Fraga, Communications Officer (English) comms-syr@medair.org; +961 71 417639
Notes to editor
Personal stories and photos of Medair’s work with innovative new technologies are available for use upon request.
Medair helps people who are suffering in remote and devastated communities around the world survive crises, recover with dignity, and develop skills to build a better future.
For more information about Medair’s Syrian Crisis programme, please click here.
