Over the past decade, there has been a large and growing demand for digital services – such as ‘connectivity as aid’. Such services can be of great help to people affected by conflict, including by helping connect families that have been separated, or to access legal rights. At the same time, unsafeguarded connectivity points can expose already vulnerable individuals and populations to increased risks, including targeting killing, exploitation and other harms.
In this post, Rakesh Bharania, director of humanitarian impact data at Salesforce.org, and Mark Silverman, strategic advisor in the ICRC’s Office for Digital Transformation and Data, argue that connectivity as aid is important and should be provided, and that it needs to be designed to be secure and protective for populations receiving humanitarian assistance from the outset.
