Whilst the global economy has taken a battering during the COVID-19 pandemic, online commerce has thrived. A UN-supported initiative is helping refugees and migrants around the world to access the tools and customers they need to build their businesses and improve their livelihoods.
The project, Aspire to Innovate (a2i), is one of the centrepieces of the Bangladeshi government’s Digital Bangladesh agenda. The programme aims to transform digital services for the country’s citizens in a wide range of areas, including digital finance, help for people living with disabilities, and simplifying bureaucracy. The Rohingya are far from the only community in Bangladesh that needs assistance to make ends meet. a2i has developed a portal designed to help migrant workers, forcibly displaced people and host communities, by connecting them to job opportunities. Six digital a2i centres have been set up outside of the country, three of them in Saudi Arabia, where nearly a third of all Bangladeshi workers are based.
The success of the project has inspired UNDP to develop and scale up similar programmes internationally, and seek to help other communities in need, such as Turkey’s refugee population, the world’s largest. The vast majority of refugees in Turkey, some 3.6 million, are Syrians fleeing the years-long conflict in the country. Hamed al Faisal is one of them. He had worked as a web developer in Syria before being forced to leave home. A UNDP platform in Turkey has helped Mr. al Faisal to find work providing business advice to other Syrian refugees. They, in turn have benefited from the online assistance provided by the programme, to set up companies, gain accreditation, and market themselves as freelancers.
The importance of digital tools in enabling migrants to make a living is highlighted in a 2019 UNDP report, Migrant Union: Digital Livelihoods for People on the Move, which identifies the gaps between available digital tools and services, digital policies, and the actual needs of migrants. The study recommended building partnerships, particularly with the private sector, which generally own digital tools and platforms, and those who need skilled migrants.
Source: The UN
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