The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is meticulous in selecting partners. And they discovered Resco in the best possible way – through a recommendation by one of the world’s largest companies. 

Putting their capabilities and skills to the test 

“UNHCR heard about us from Microsoft, with whom we have collaborated for many years. They were familiar with our focus on offline applications,” says Andrew Lorraine, CEO of Resco – a company whose vision is helping mobile workers become more efficient. 

We faced an initial challenge: using a mobile or tablet app to locate refugee family members registered in remote refugee centers – all without an internet connection! 

“We managed to do this by searching for the registered members and their contacts in various Resco apps via Bluetooth. At that time, we had no idea that it was a UNHCR project. When we found out, we were excited and motivated for our support to grow into a genuine partnership,” added Andrew. 

Initial version in just 3 months 

We quickly passed the test with flying colors, and Resco’s developers then set about developing a RApp (Rapid Application) to register refugees even without internet access, using the Resco Mobile App Development Toolkit. The major challenges were achieving data quality, app performance, and ease-of-use for field workers. And all that without internet connection. These technical hurdles were overcome, and fine-tuning of the app took just three months.  

And what did the UNHCR employees think? “The RApp reduced refugee registration time from fifteen minutes to just four, compared with other online apps that we used. The Resco platform has radically reduced our dependency on pen & paper as we move towards deploying digital tools,” said David Birt, Chief of Development & Support Unit at UNHCR.  

Every minute counts in crisis situations – with a large number of people, minutes add up to hours or even days of waiting.   

On-site feedback from Cameroon 

Cooperation between Resco and UNHCR was not a one-off provision of software; the application is constantly evolving. In recent years, nine people have worked on the project, but practically the whole company participated in its development.  

Resco employees’ exploratory visit to Cameroon also provided valuable on-site feedback. In the towns of Beroua and Batouri, they experienced the UNHCR’s work with refugees first-hand. 

“We were grateful for the opportunity to experience something completely new, both in how we view our day-to-day work and our overall perspective of the world. We also gained key practical insights about our technologies in the field,” noted Andrew.  

This journey also proved to be an enriching personal experience. Our employees found that stepping out of their comfort zone – professionally and personally – is always a good thing. 

“It was inspiring to see how the UNHCR team and the refugees handled these challenging circumstances with dignity and perseverance. This experience gave us the opportunity to reflect on our own lives and strive to provide more help to those in need,” concluded Andrew about the Africa trip.  

The Ukraine war brings crisis to our doorstep 

The partnership between UNHCR and Resco was inevitably marked by the war in Ukraine, where the RApp app is also used. Programmers got even more essential on-site information, and UNHCR opened an office in Bratislava in response to the situation. This resulted in even closer collaboration on further improvements, making life easier for both workers and, most importantly, refugees. 

The app goes beyond registration and staff can leverage the offline platform to sync with critical assistance programmes and protection services. 

Among other things, we soon plan to expand the app to help those seeking to return home after the threat has passed in their country.  

Príspevok Mobile app as lifeline in crises: Registering refugees even without internet connection   zobrazený najskôr Resco.

Today, we would like to introduce three non-profit organizations we were lucky to work with over the last few years.

All of them dedicate as much of their valuable time as possible to those in need. And this is one of the key areas where mobile technology supports them.

It helps them to eliminate paperwork and makes work possible even in the most challenging environments with no connectivity, all leading to getting done more in less time.

Love in Action

Love in Action is a charity organization based in Masaka, Uganda. Their mission is to provide orphans and local families with care, education, and support – especially families affected by HIV/AIDS.

They do this by identifying and supporting community-based initiatives with funding, advice, and resources. They have established several schools in their region, a home for teenagers, and they also operate a Health Clinic in Kasaka for the surrounding population.

LIA’s social workers regularly visit orphaned children to track their progress in terms of education and recovery, as many of them suffered physical or mental abuse in the past.

These visits often take place in remote areas, with no stable Internet connection. To simplify their work, they needed a mobile solution that works perfectly offline and allows them to access their Salesforce data.

Since implementing Resco, they were able to spend even more time with the children in need and less time in the office writing and transcribing data.

At the clinic, nurses also record the details of visiting children on iPads, which they synchronize later during the day.

They consider it a big plus that Resco works seamlessly on all platforms and devices, so they don’t necessarily have to invest in the latest, more expensive devices. You can read the full case study here.

Find out more about Resco for Salesforce here.

UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency)

UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency) is a global organization with a mission to save lives, protect human rights, and build a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people.

In 2018, they started utilizing the Rapid Application (RApp), a mobile application built on the Resco platform for collecting and managing the personal data of refugees. Now they use the app in over 41 countries – from Africa to South America.

The app works perfectly offline, which is a must since UNHCR’s staff often works in remote, challenging environments with little or no connectivity.

We were lucky to accompany UNHCR to Cameroon last year to help them with the first deployment of our tools. If you want to learn more about our partnership with UNHCR and our mission to Cameroon, check out these blog posts too:

• More about our partnership and the Rapid App.
• Our key takeaways from Cameroon.

Thanks to its success, UNHCR adopted the Resco platform into its Guidance on Identity and Registration Management.

Find out more about Resco Mobile App Development Toolkit.

Doctors Without Borders

Doctors Without Borders is an international humanitarian medical non-governmental organization on a mission to provide medical help where it’s needed the most – in conflict zones and countries affected by epidemics.

To make sure they recruit the best people, they need in-depth knowledge of the markets of the countries in which they operate. For this reason, their Intersectional Benchmarking Unit collects and analyzes data regarding the cost of living and salaries of the workers.

In Norway, members of the unit started gathering data on-site. However, they faced several challenges regarding offline usability, flexibility, synchronization, and collecting data in a structured way. They implemented Resco through our Norwegian partner, Point Taken, and since then they utilize our technology for gathering data on-site.

This saves them time and allows them to collect information even in remote areas.

Find out more about Resco Field Sales+ and Field Service+.

What can you do to support WHD today (and every day)?

• Learn. Awareness is always the first step to changing anything. Educate yourself about the countries affected by war, famine, and infectious diseases. Then share what you have learned with others.
• Donate. To make a difference, you can support the #RealLifeHeroes – humanitarians and front-line workers – so that they can help more people in these unprecedented times. This initiative is part of the UN’s Crisis Relief platform. Click here to learn more about it.
• Volunteer. If you’re truly committed to helping, find a way to volunteer. You can look for opportunities near you at VolunteerMatch, Idealist, and All for Good.
• Innovate. Leverage the latest technologies to help and protect others.

Find out more

If you work in the nonprofit sector and would like to learn more about how Resco technology can make a difference in your work processes, feel free to contact us at sales@resco.net.

Príspevok We stand with #RealLifeHeroes: Resco in the nonprofit sector zobrazený najskôr Resco.

According to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, nearly 80 million women, children, and men around the world have been forced from their homes as refugees or internally displaced people.

Even more shocking: ten million of these people fled in the past year alone.

At Resco, we’ve been doing our part to help the cause with the tools we know best – innovative mobile technologies.

Since 2018, when UNHCR (The UN Refugee Agency) started building Rapid Application – an offline mobile application for refugee personal data registration and identity management built on the Resco platform – their global footprint has grown to 41 countries and hundreds of Resco users.

Resco technology allows their local teams of registration officers to sync their Resco app directly to their CRM or even to local Resco Field Servers – enabling their work offline no matter the conditions while also complying with strict data requirements from the local authorities.

From supporting the refugee crisis response in Bangladesh, to deploying to additional countries in Africa and South America, the Resco platform has been adopted into UNHCR’s international Guidance on Identity and Registration Management. And we continue to deliver technology that helps organizations like UNHCR make a real impact no matter the operational or connectivity challenges.

We’ve also helped other non-profits, such as Love in Action, Doctors without Borders, Self Help Africa and New Zealand Community Trust. You can also check the photo gallery and read more about our trip to Cameroon, where we helped UNHCR deploy their Resco system.

Furthermore, these organizations not only take advantage of the best in class mobile technology, but they also received special pricing.

If you are a Resco partner working with non-profit initiatives, we’d love to hear from you.

Drop us a message at partners@resco.net and tell us more on what you’re working on.

To learn more about the global refugee situation and the World Refugee Day, check out also the folllowing video:
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Príspevok Commemorating World Refugee Day: How is Resco helping UNHCR & other non-profit organizations? zobrazený najskôr Resco.