An app to support the improved wellbeing of refugees

The Challenge?

3 Sided Cube were approached by UNHCR (The UN Refugee Agency) as they wanted to develop new innovative technology solutions that improved the wellbeing of refugees and encouraged more private-sector donations. UNHCR wanted a secure way for donors and refugees to communicate  with each other directly – without the filter of an organization –  to build mutual understanding and knowledge, shift attitudes and allow high value donors to understand how their donations were making a difference. 

The aim of the app was to positively impact an initial group of Syrian refugees in Jordan so UNHCR needed a robust platform that was safe and secure for refugees and donors.

The Solution

The solution, Connecting Worlds Family, is a react native app that consists of multi-language content targeted at multi-countries. The app is focused on security, with the safety of refugees being paramount for UNHCR so 3 Sided Cube included many checkpoints in place to ensure this. 

This app allows refugees and donors to set up a profile before they are matched with a same-gender profile. Once profiles are approved the donor is prompted to send their first message, which can be automatically translated to the native language of the recipient. Throughout this process there are two human interventions as well as an intermediary API to ensure the content adheres to the UNHCR Community standards and that communication is translated accurately.

As well as integrations with Google and Azure APIs the app utilises the ZenDesk support platform to ensure users can communicate seamlessly with UNHCR directly to raise any issues or review FAQs.