"Research on forcibly displaced people and their digital cultures have dominantly focused on utility-driven ends, primarily tied to goals of assimilation, social surveillance/tracking, economic betterment and other aid agencies’ specific agendas and outcomes. This approach negates much of their di
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gital life – that which is consumed by leisure and play, including popular media entertainment, gaming, romancing, and social networking, much like typical online users worldwide. Leisure has proven to be fundamental to social and mental well-being as it allows for unstructured time and thought (Arora, 2019), an essential gateway into self and community actualization. The restrictive lens of utility-centeredness may lead to insufficient data, or even directly contribute to misleading data, on these communities. This is significant, because this research base is often instrumentalized by aid agencies in their pursuit for equitable and meaningful connectivity for these targeted populations. This report takes a holistic approach by addressing one of the key gaps facing this demographic and their virtual life: digital leisure. While there is some primary research on how these communities engage with media platforms, digital networks, and online leisure content in diverse contexts, there is a need for a comprehensive synthesis of observations surrounding individuals’ multifaceted ‘media life’. This report seeks to address gaps in research and practice in this area of focus. The digital leisure approach supports the natural ways in which people navigate digital spaces and provides new opportunities to expand existing policies that ensure accountability and community-based responses to the need for digital inclusion." (Introduction, page 10)
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"Through in-depth qualitative research and a survey to confirm and quantify findings, this study aims to provide a more holistic understanding of how displacement-affected communities in three humanitarian settings are using their mobile phones. These settings were chosen to provide a variety of per
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spectives on the research questions: North and Akkar governorates in Lebanon, which host tens of thousands of Syrian refugees and are the most economically underdeveloped regions in the country; Iowara refugee settlement in Western Province, Papua New Guinea (PNG), which hosts between 2,500 and 3,000 refugees from West Papua, Indonesia (Iowara is an extremely remote settlement that is hard to reach from the nearest town of Kiunga and has a host population of only about 200 people); Bor Protection of Civilians (PoC) site in South Sudan, which hosts about 2,687 internally displaced Nuer people and is located 7 kilometres from the urban centre of Bor Town. Deep qualitative engagement and surveys with refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs) and host communities revealed complex digital worlds in which people use their mobile phones to navigate and cope with difficult daily realities. Connecting with friends and family, staying up to date on news and information from home or relaxing with music are all ways for people to respond to the challenges they face. However, these complex uses also present risks for mobile phone users. The research highlights the impacts of low digital literacy, online scams, misinformation, disinformation and hate speech (MDH), and how humanitarians, mobile network operators (MNOs) and other digital and financial service providers can help protect people from those risks." (Executive summary)
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"The article draws on the concepts of “felt needs” and “politics of listening” widely used in community development and applies them more broadly to the humanitarian crisis suffered by internally displaced persons in Burkina Faso. It investigates the two-way communication stream between radi
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o journalists and listeners drawing on feedback collected remotely from 153 representatives of internally displaced and host communities in Burkina Faso during COVID-19. It argues that while a voice must be given to marginalised communities, it must also be listened to and acted upon. Rather than radio journalism being a loudspeaker for top-down messaging, the study argues that alternative approaches should be adopted in conflict- and pandemic-affected areas. It finds that a balance is needed between the information that listeners feel they need in their new extreme circumstances and the information that radio journalists, drawing on their expertise, feel would be strategically empowering." (Abstract)
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"La principal información que la población migrante, refugiada y retornada manifiesta necesitar para su vida en Cali, Colombia es: 78.3% sobre necesidades primarias, como acceso a servicios de salud, techo y alimentación; 62.1% sobre medios de subsistencia, como información laboral, educación y
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participación en la vida comunitaria; 51.7% sobre información legal, como nuevas leyes migratorias, orientación para la protección de derechos humanos, orientación para registros civiles y amparo a NNA. Los migrantes también han encontrado la mayoría de las barreras en el acceso a los servicios en estas áreas. Tanto la salud como la educación son temas considerados de alta prioridad por los encuestados, especialmente en lo que respecta a los menores de edad." (Resumen ejecutivo, página 4)
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"What kind of information are refugees looking for? Who do they communicate with? What ICT, social and digital media do they apply? What are their motives to use particular devices or services, from Facebook and WhatsApp to YouTube and TikTok? Are gender- as well as age-dependent differences to be o
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bserved? To answer these questions, data have been collected through an online questionnaire, interviews, as well as a content analysis of an online platform for refugees." (Publisher description)
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"More than 13 million people have been displaced by the war in Ukraine in the last six months, with 1.6 million refugees entering Romania since February. As of August 2022, more than 87 thousand people are still seeking shelter in Romania with the support of the Government and partners including civ
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il society, the private sector, volunteers, and international aid organisations. And while there has been an extraordinarily swift response to create services to support these newly arrived communities, information and communication challenges have hampered their effectiveness. This research was conducted between July – September 2022 and includes the perspectives of close to 1,200 refugees and 20 service providers and field data collected from Bucharest, Iasi, Brasov and Constanta." (Publisher description)
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"1. Las lideresas comunitarias son el filtro informativo de servicios y ayudas que llegan a los asentamientos de Maicao [...] 2. El voz-a-voz como principal fuente de información y verificación [...] 3. El entretenimiento es el contenido de mayor consumo por encima del noticioso; este tipo de cons
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umo rápido se asocia a los índices de analfabetismo, la poca oferta informativa y las barreras estructurales [...] 4. El acceso a la información está limitado por la falta de infraestructura en los asentamientos [...] 5. A mayor edad, los canales digitales se utilizan como medio tradicional de llamadas, pero se referencia el uso de otros canales como la televisión y radio para buscar información [...] 6. Si bien los canales digitales como Whatsapp y Facebook son los predilectos, las personas confían más en la información que proviene de medios tradicionales, como la radio y la televisión [...] 7. La población proveniente de Venezuela tiene necesidades de información insatisfechas que afectan el acceso a servicios básicos y medios de subsistencia en Maicao ..." (Resumen ejecutivo, página 4 ff)
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"La Evaluación de Necesidades de Información (INA) de la población migrante venezolana en el Área Metropolitana de Bucaramanga, Santander, se realizó entre noviembre de 2021 y marzo de 2022 bajo la metodología propia de Internews, en el marco del Programa Conectando Caminos por los Derechos de
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USAID. El INA se realiza con el propósito de comprender las necesidades de información de una población en riesgo de sufrir vulneraciones contra sus derechos, la forma como obtienen intercambia y utilizan la información, sus mecanismos de confianza y sus medios preferidos de comunicación e información." (Introducción)
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"Key findings and recommendations on the main communication, community engagement and accountability (CCEA) barriers and gaps:
Finding 1: There is strong rhetoric from international agencies to support local/national CCEA and work on more inclusive partnerships – but progress has been slow
Finding
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2: Significant gaps in the CCEA capacities of local and national agencies constrain activities
Finding 3: Language and terminology are key barriers to participation and inclusion of local organisations
Finding 4: Marginalised groups need specific CCEA considerations
Finding 5: Information is needed for refugees returning to Ukraine
Finding 6: Non-Ukrainian refugees need specific CCEA considerations
Finding 7: Engagement is needed with host communities" (Pages 6-10)
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"En Barranquilla y Soledad se destacan tres categorías de necesidades de información entre la población migrante y retornada: información legal/asuntos migratorios (76%); medios de subsistencia (63%, incluye información laboral); necesidades primarias (55%, esta categoría incluye los temas de
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salud). Las redes sociales son los canales más usados por su bajo costo. La radio, la gran derrotada de los medios tradicionales. Los migrantes prefieren la atención presencial en las entidades, pero no saben cómo acceder a ellas." (Principales hallazgos, página 3)
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"When DW Akademie started a new media development project on Refugees and Migration in Africa in 2019, we knew our objective: We wanted to find ways to improve access to information for people affected by displacement, to provide channels for these people to express themselves and to improve the dia
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logue between displaced communities and host communities. However, we didn’t know how people in and around our project areas in Kakuma (Kenya), Gambella (Ethiopia), Kagera, and Kigoma (Tanzania) communicated. In the absence of studies specific to these three locations in East Africa, we conducted information needs assessments. We had many questions: What languages do people speak in these communities? Do they have access to broadcast, print and digital media? Which sources of information do they trust? What kind of information is lacking? To find out, we commissioned a Kenyan research consultancy company to do a quantitative survey of more than 1,700 people in and around refugee camps, organize 32 focus group discussions and interview 25 key informants. We found that information seeking and communication habits were radically different in the three locations. While 54 percent of refugee respondents in the Tanzania study listened to radio, the rate was much lower among refugee respondents in Kenya (25 percent) and Ethiopia (20 percent), where local or international organizations and other people were the most frequently used sources of information. Internet usage varied between 9 percent and 39 percent and tends to be higher in urban areas and among host communities than in rural areas and among refugees." (Foreword)
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"Using the example of Iraqi refugees in Jordan's capital of Amman, this book describes how information and communication technologies (ICTs) play out in the everyday experiences of urban refugees, geographically located in the Global South, and shows how interactions between online and offline space
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s are key for making sense of the humanitarian regime, for carving out a sense of home and for sustaining hope. This book paints a humanizing account of making do amid legal marginalization, prolonged insecurity, and the proliferation of digital technologies." (Publisher description)
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"Using the Syrian war as a case study, this article examines the theoretical frameworks of media dependency and selective exposure during the war. Through a survey of 2,192 Syrians living in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey during the conflict, the study examined the media needs and trust of four
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groups of Syrians: non-displaced, internally displaced, externally displaced living inside refugee camps, and externally displaced living outside refugee camps. The study aimed to understand how these four groups trust and rely on different media sources to meet their information needs." (Abstract)
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"Top-down approaches have limited potential to reach long-lasting and innovative solutions for the settlement of refugees. There is a growing consensus among scholars and policy-makers that governments alone cannot solve complex societal problems, and that participation of non-government actors, sta
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keholders, media companies, civil society, and the refugee themselves is crucial to achieving more positive outcomes in the long-run. In this special issue, we seek to contribute to this growing research field by exploring the issue in a variety of contexts, using different methodologies and with a focus on the inherent linkages between media, society and political authorities in the management of migration and integration processes. Communication Research, at its diverse layers and from a wide array of topics and methods, is expected to contribute to the analysis of social, political, demographic and cultural changes, so tackling the ongoing refugee crisis in the Mediterranean area is an opportunity to connect theoretical and methodological advances with a relevant topic which certainly requires practical, technical and applied contributions. In doing so, screening the online activity turns into an additional sphere to be kept under attention, as a new space for social discussion and action. The origin of the special issue entitled ‘From fragmentation to integration: Addressing the role of communication in refugee crises and settlement processes’ is a Pre-Conference organized by the guest editors as part of the 68th Annual International Communication Association Conference held in Prague, in 2018. The main purpose of this pre-conference was to open a space for dialogue regarding the way refugee crises and integration processes are tackled by political, social and media actors, aiming to set some guidelines to avoid those mistakes previously noticed and leading to a more constructive and conscious coverage and social action. This event brought together researchers, policy advisors, NGO representatives and refugee migrants to discuss the intersections between refugee migration and communication processes. A selection of original articles that were presented at this event form the basis of this special issue. The main themes addressed in the articles of the current special issue are: (1) inclusive digital forms of literacy and activism for/with refugees; (2) local responsesto refugee crises, (re)settlement and their communication strategies; and (3) media representation of humanitarian crises and refugees in their receiving countries." (Page 4)
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"This Guide aims to support UNHCR country offices in the use of Social Media to protect People of Concern (PoCs) and ensure they enjoy their rights. We will show how UNHCR staff and partners can develop a Community-Based Protection (CBP) strategy, using Social Media in a way that respects UNHCR’s
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data protection policy and PoCs’ rights to privacy and security. The aim is to mobilize and support sustainable digital structures that represent everyone in a given community and develop appropriate protection responses on Social Media. In this guide, we define Social Media as websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or participate in social networking (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and You Tube). We also mean software that enables messages to be sent and received instantly, also referred to as “Messaging Apps” (e.g. WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal and FB Messenger). Social Media give people a voice but they are not entirely innocuous. Their capacity to generate and harvest huge amounts of metadata and inferred data mean they can be used and abused in ways not apparent to users, and beyond UNHCR’s control. This guide should be shared with all protection partners and stakeholders interested in how Social Media can enhance protection while avoiding security and privacy risks to People of Concern. With due diligence, Social Media can strengthen participation, engagement, transparency, outreach and advocacy. The aim is to incorporate the feedback, ideas and opinions of People of Concern in our future protection programming." (Page 9)
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"DW Akademie commissioned field studies in the following six Middle Eastern and Northern African countries in 2019/20: Lebanon, Jordan, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. The initiative to carry out these studies stems from DW Akademie’s long-standing experience in the MENA region and the identi
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fied need to understand the singularities regarding the communication challenges posed by migration and displacement. The following research questions underpinned the study: 1. How does the national media represent the topics of migration and displacement? Are the voices of migrants and refugees heard in mainstream media? 2. What are the communication tools and strategies of important stakeholders in the field of migration and displacement in each of the six countries? 3. How do migrants and refugees access information and how do they communicate within their communities and the host societies? 4. Are migrant and refugee communities able to access information necessary to making informed decisions? What information do they seek? 5. What are the existing media development initiatives in each country?" (Introduction, page 7)
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"Cette évaluation de l’écosystème de l’information vise à établir une compréhension des dynamiques de l’information dans le contexte des populations déplacées dans plusieurs localités du pays : Bangui, Paoua, Bozoum, Berberati, Sibut, Bambari, Ndélé, Kaga-Bandoro et Rafaï. Cette re
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cherche est basée sur des entretiens approfondis et des discussions de groupe focus avec des membres de la communauté des populations déplacées internes vivant dans des camps, des organisations humanitaires et de la société civile, des fonctionnaires et des professionnels, ainsi que des données quantitatives issues de deux enquêtes (face-à-face à Bangui et par téléphone à travers le pays)." (Description de la maison d'édition)
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"Since October 2017, the Common Service for Community Engagement and Accountability (‘the Common Service’) has been funded as a dedicated project providing key services and support to help humanitarian organisations engage effectively with Rohingya communities and Bangladeshis living near Rohing
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ya camps (host communities) in Cox’s Bazar. A sub-national working group on communicating with communities (CwC) already existed in Bangladesh and was activated in response to the Rohingya refugee crisis. The Common Service project operates alongside the working group carrying out a diverse range of activities including creating and sharing audio and visual content in the Rohingya language; supporting and training humanitarian agencies on language, communication, community engagement and accountability; and operating a collective feedback analysis service, collating and analysing community feedback and complaints data from different sources and producing a fortnightly bulletin" (Preface, page 4). –- "There is strong evidence to suggest that community members have improved access to coordinated, timely and responsive two-way community engagement as a result of the Common Service. The evaluation has found causal evidence to suggest that support the Common Service has provided to the humanitarian sector, through provision of communication materials and training has led to humanitarian agencies being better equipped to communicate with communities and in turn community members having access to key, useful information which has prompted them to take action." (Conclusions, page 50)
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