If war had not come to Johnny D.’s Angolan village, maybe he would still be selling books with his wife and ten children. But war did come, in 2006, and there was no time to grab any possessions. They just ran. Johnny says had he stayed, he would be dead. Armed men...
Using CwC as a tool when fast-paced transit turns to frustration and uncertainty In January 2016, the Emergency Lab posted a blog about the different challenges humanitarian responders faced when trying to communicate with refugees and migrants making their way...
The Emergency Lab’s First Words: Translation Cards During our first scoping mission to fYR Macedonia late last year, the Emergency Lab identified the complexity of working in multiple languages as a key challenge. Ensuring that we share accurate information with...
Timothy Sakala saw a problem, and he saw a solution. It was the middle he wasn’t so sure about. As a fairly new Livelihoods Officer with UNHCR’s Zambia operation, Timothy had noticed during the previous 18 months that refugees were having major difficulties finding...
What is the Emergency Lab? Some of the greatest opportunities can also be quite daunting, can’t they? This is certainly the feeling I had when I realised that I was to be part of a new Emergency Lab that was being set up inside UNHCR. The Innovation Unit, along with...
Yusif Sidik’s vision of an efficient shelter program involves no sophisticated design, innovative material, or complex logistics. It’s about putting refugees in charge of the process, using locally-sourced materials. Sidik is a Senior Field Assistant in Ghana, working...
