#TechnoHumanitarianism #DigitalHumanitarianism #GlobalHunger #FoodInsecurity: "We’d fallen prey to the comforting illusion that shiny new technology would solve everything. But technology does not work on its own; it needs attendants, people like Abdou, Nasser, and all those who worked to get things right for the refugees in Bétou.

Ultimately, mobile money transfers proved to be an effective solution to a humanitarian supply-chain issue. Still, there was a larger problem left unsolved: the community was still unable to feed itself without aid. Working with UNHCR, WFP advocated with authorities to allow the Central Africans to obtain the land they needed to farm. The Congolese had given the refugees protected status, but they still refused to let them acquire farmland. Ultimately, an agreement was reached that allowed refugees to lease farmland from locals for three to five years—enough time to give them some security, and to plant food crops for themselves and sell the surplus.

Soon enough, the Central Africans began growing cabbage and tomatoes, which they sold at Bétou’s riverside market. Technology had streamlined one aspect of food delivery, but the larger issue of access to land and a sustainable future for the refugees could only be resolved through negotiations between human beings."

https://lithub.com/what-the-rise-of-techno-humanitarianism-means-for-crisis-hit-communities-across-the-globe/

#DigitalTransformation #DigitalHumanitarianism #HumanitarianTech #DataProtection #Privacy: "Despite the challenges we identify, our research confirms many of the positive claims humanitarian aid actors make about how they are improving data and tech management, and we were able to dispel some of the stereotypes and clichés surrounding the digital transformation of humanitarian response. The picture that emerges shows a humanitarian sector that is experimenting on the cutting edge of technology, pushing the boundaries of technical development in extremely harsh conditions, and navigating seemingly impossible challenges while balancing high stakes and risks.

That said, the collaboration between aid organisations and companies is also bringing emerging and untested technologies to volatile contexts without sufficient transparency, due process, protection protocols, or recourse mechanisms. As we discovered, humanitarian tech partnerships seem to dodge normative and regulatory data protection frameworks by claiming the extra-legality and extraterritoriality of the technology or the implementation, by taking advantage of the secretive nature of their agreements, and sometimes of their immunities. These gaps leave people participating in aid programs without recourse or oversight which might allow them to enforce their human rights."

https://www.accessnow.org/private-tech-humanitarian-mapping/