Since launching in 2022, Tech For Refugees has partnered with several organisations to bring technology-driven solutions to refugees worldwide. These partners include Airbnb.org, Spotify, and the International Rescue Committee (IRC). In 2023, the IRC received a United Nations (UN) award for its Signpost project, which Tech For Refugees helped fund.
Tech For Refugees’ founder is Eureka Manifesto author and Giving Pledge philanthropist Yuri Milner. He has also co-founded the Breakthrough Initiatives and the Breakthrough Prize.
How Signpost Connects Communities to Information Resources
The 2023 UN SDG Action Awards announced this year’s winners and finalists at its prize ceremony in Rome on July 24. The awards recognise the efforts of individuals and organisations that mobilise, inspire, and connect people to drive positive change.
The IRC’s Signpost project won the “Connect” category for its work connecting crisis-affected communities to essential information resources. Signpost is the world’s first scalable project to operate community-driven digital information platforms in countries where crises have impacted people’s lives.
According to the IRC, increased access to accurate information can:
- Empower displaced individuals to make important — and often life-saving — decisions.
- Disempower smugglers and criminals who profit from misinformation.
- Save lives along displacement routes.
- Help individuals seeking asylum understand their rights.
The IRC launched Signpost in 2015, and the project has since grown to include programmes in more than 20 countries.
The IRC Partners With Tech For Refugees
The IRC has worked with several partners to make Signpost a reality, including Google.org, Cisco, Zendesk, Meta, and Microsoft.
The IRC announced a new partnership with Tech For Refugees in early 2023 to expand Signpost’s global reach. The partnership involves a multi-year financial commitment from Tech For Refugees. Yuri Milner said the collaboration will help the IRC bring “sophisticated technological tools” to millions of people.
According to the Giving Pledge signatory, the “scale of today’s refugee crisis requires innovative ideas.” Tech For Refugees supports various pioneering programmes in collaboration with tech partners like the IRC.
For instance, funding from Tech For Refugees helped Flexport.org deliver shipments containing aid worth millions of pounds to Ukrainian refugees in six countries.
There are many opportunities for inventive technology companies and organisations to help communities in need. Tech For Refugees welcomes new technology partners to increase the scope of its mission to ease the global refugee crisis.
About Tech For Refugees’ Founders
Tech For Refugees launched in 2022, when Eureka Manifesto author Yuri Milner and his wife Julia announced a commitment of $100 million towards programmes for refugees.
This seed donation came from the Milners’ Breakthrough Foundation, which the couple set up after joining the Giving Pledge. The Breakthrough Prize and the Breakthrough Initiatives are two projects that also receive funding from the Breakthrough Foundation.
The Milners’ Giving Pledge primarily focuses on scientific ventures, such as the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, the Breakthrough Initiatives, and the Breakthrough Prize. However, the couple has also donated to humanitarian causes, including the global refugee crisis (through Tech For Refugees and other donations).
Yuri Milner discusses the Giving Pledge, the Breakthrough Prize, and the Breakthrough Initiatives in Eureka Manifesto: The Mission for Our Civilization. Eureka Manifesto is a short book available to download, listen to, or read online for free. In Eureka Manifesto, Yuri Milner shares his belief that a shared mission can ensure humanity’s survival and the progress of our civilisation.
