CoNUA Displacement Toolkit (CoNUA-d)

A toolkit for exploring mobile phone use among refugees and displaced people in humanitarian settings

Access the Toolkit

Illustration of a refugee family outside a tent; mother cooks, father sits, and two children stand nearby, highlighting the daily realities that the CoNUA toolkit aims to address.

The GSMA’s CoNUA-d Toolkit builds on the foundations of the main CoNUA Toolkit, to address the unique realities of displacement settings. CoNUA-d provides a set of tools to explore how refugees and displaced populations use mobile phones for humanitarian purposes.

Together, these tools help build a comprehensive picture of mobile phone use in crisis contexts, highlighting digital divides such as those linked to gender, disability and age, while also supporting a deeper understanding of the surrounding digital ecosystem and the conditions that enable it to function.

While mobile technology can be a key enabler for humanitarian support such as cash and voucher assistance, communication and access to essential information, the CoNUA displacement toolkit does not replace specialised assessment tools already in use. Instead, it is modular and adaptable, designed to complement other assessment frameworks to produce fit-for-purpose, context-specific insights. CoNUA-d has adapted and refined a subset of tools from the original CoNUA toolkit to ensure relevance and usability in displacement contexts.

Each of the tools listed below can be used separately, or several can be combined to create bespoke assessments. They can also be inserted into other assessments as needed. For full guidance on how each tool can be used and combined for tailored assessments, we suggest downloading the guidance document provided in the CoNUA toolkit.

Tools

The End-user Survey tool

Like traditional individual-level assessment surveys, this tool is designed to collect statistically representative data meaning, that with proper sampling, findings can be generalised to entire populations.

To reduce overall length, only questions that are most relevant should be used, with others excluded. Additionally, the survey can be used as a question bank, meaning specific questions can be added to include elements of phone access, ownership, and usage in other assessments.

Data from this tool will be almost entirely quantitative, and as such should be analysed statistically. Data collection and analysis should be done in such a way that they are representative of the overall population.

Download Tool 1

Focus Group Discussions

This tool is a selection of guides for focus group discussions (FGD) touching on several topics, including context understanding, technology usage and preferences, the role of mobile in livelihoods and business, trust in communication and the use of mobile money. These tools are designed to collect individual stories, an understanding of nuanced aspects of mobile technology use, as well as topics that the researcher may not expect, which are more likely to be revealed through semi-structured discussions than other structured approaches.

The tool provides guidance on the best ways to collect qualitative data, as well as explore topics that benefit from group dynamics. The guides also provide suggestions on how to select participants. The questions in each FGD guide have been framed to facilitate free-flowing discussion, with specific prompts embedded, where appropriate, to help deepen discussions as the FGD progresses.

As with Tool 1, users can select to use the full tool, or take individual guides/prompts and include in other assessments or pieces of research.

Download Tool 2

Merchant Survey

The word ‘merchant’ refers to all the sellers, shopkeepers, network representatives, SIM and scratch-card resellers, and mobile money agents who provide mobile phone and mobile money related products and services.

Tools 4 and 5 do not contain any questions on the location of a merchant, this is done on purpose so that the respondents can remain anonymous and feel free to respond. Tool 6 helps to understand how many merchants offering specific services are in any given location or area. It allows the creation of a density map of merchants, potentially identifying underserved areas. It is GPS-enabled, and the Kobo Toolbox suite has a built-in way of displaying the data as a map. For a more powerful visualisation, the data can be downloaded and overlaid in a GIS with the Signal Strength mapping tool (Tool 5).

Download Tool 3

Market Assessment

This tool aims to help users better understand the mobile phone and mobile money products and services available in each context, including the cost. It also can show how popular and convenient services are within the local economy, and start to understand electricity access.

Because these topics vary widely from context to context, the best way to obtain this information will likely also vary. Therefore, this tool has purposely been developed to avoid being overly prescriptive and make it applicable in a wide variety of contexts. It can also act as a guide for including elements of or questions about mobile technology into pre-existing market assessment tools.

Download Tool 4

Signal Strength Mapping

The signal test tool helps Toolkit users map out connectivity coverage and quality in a given area. It tracks whether connectivity was sufficient to complete tasks such as making a phone call or streaming a video, which helps collect systematic evidence about network connectivity strength and which services are reliably accessible.

This tool provides the most direct way of understanding network coverage, but it is most useful when combined with end users’ perceptions obtained through the Survey and Participatory Mapping tools. Where available, it will be worth cross-referencing data with network coverage data provided directly by MNOs.

Download Tool 5

Looking for CoNUA?

The Toolkit supports those who are committed to using a user-centred approach to deliver humanitarian assistance, contributing to the Grand Bargain commitment 6 – “a participation revolution”.

At present, each tool is available in Arabic, English, French, Spanish, and
Swahili. The supporting documentation is available in English and French.  We intend to add more languages as they are needed for deployments.

Back to CoNUA