Solidarites International

Lebanon | Humanitarian

The problem

The lack of a systematic accountability system for refugees who, upon humanitarian service delivery, feel their requests, feedbacks and complaints are not taken into consideration. This results in lack of capacity to reinforce their social capital, resilience, and data ownership.

The company

Solidarités International is a non-profit organisation working in areas of conflict and natural disasters. Its main aim is to provide quick and effective support for people in life-threatening situations by meeting their vital needs: water, food and shelter.

Project description

Our innovation is a WhatsApp bot service. An automated messaging platform for beneficiaries to communicate with any organisation. It works like traditional automated voicemail services but using WhatsApp, this channel being the most convenient and used by both host and refugees population. The system proposes options and adapt its messages based on respondents’ answers to guide her/him through to deliver the requested information or service. The bots are linked to a customer relationship management (CRM) system tailor made for the humanitarian sector. It contains all information and status on aid request needed to provide WhatsApp users high quality, accurate information.

With high COVID-19 infection rates and income-making opportunities drying up, the need for refugees to reach out to humanitarian organisations has been exacerbated. However, movement restrictions have made this even more difficult. In response , SI will increase development on the WhatsApp bot by incorporating Machine Learning into it. This is designed to improve efficiency of conversations with refugees, provide more accurate answers on an extended scope of topics (particularly COVID-19) and reduce the need for mass group trainings and face-to-face feedback A smarter bot leads to refugees being given a faster, better and more appropriate response to their concerns.

Download the project case study.

Please visit the Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation Fund for more information on the wider fund portfolio.