NGO 2.0: Using the Web to Reunite Refugees

Anyone can sign up for Facebook; establish unique identities based on name, hometowns and schools; and instantly reconnect with old flames and friends. Danish brothers Christopher and David Mikkelsen realized such a social-networking tool would also be ideal for refugees seeking separated family members after the disruptions of war, famine or other catastrophes, and so they developed a one-stop network, Refugees United. Unlike other NGO programs, the refugees need not rely on third parties to file information and can go directly to the internet to log on and search. Available in 23 languages, the site promises to be "independent of all authorities, politics and religion." The site also allows anonymous registration for refugees in difficult, even illegal, situations, allowing people to connect based on names of pets, toys or other small details that only close family members might know. “The greatest challenge remains that of attracting enough members so that reunification can become more than just a remote possibility,” writes Charles Hawley for Spiegel Online. As long as refugees can access the internet, the separated can re-connect. – YaleGlobal