Techfugees is the social enterprise coordinating the international tech community’s response to the needs of refugees. Schibsted’s partnership will enable Techfugees’ to access valuable tailored support for its global network of local chapters, including Schibsted’s skills, tech resources and global reach, in order to better assist refugees across Europe and beyond.
Welcoming everyone to the event was Schibsted EVP Communications and CSR, Lena K. Samuelsson, at Schibsted’s London hub on Monday 20 June, which was World Refugee Day. Lena spoke to a packed crowd of developers, entrepreneurs and NGOs, explaining why Schibsted is dedicated to making a better future and how the company’s Yellow Boats initiative in Sweden has so far saved the lives of over 1,800 refugees.
Infrastructure, Education, Identity, Health and Inclusion
Techfugees CEO Joséphine Golube then took the stage to thank Schibsted and explain the Techfugees mission. Since beginning as a Facebook group in September 2015 Techfugees has rapidly grown into an inspiring 25+ global hubs following 100+ tech refugee related projects aiming at assisting with five goals: Infrastructure, Education, Identity, Health and Inclusion.
Next on stage was volunteer Tara Mikhael, head of Techfugees’ local chapters. Tara talked about Techfugees’ mission and explained some of the apps and projects that are already well underway. The social enterprise (Techfugees is not a charity) is there to help refugees help themselves by facilitating tech projects and accelerating the deployment and development of useful technologies.
Following Tara was Sophie Newman-Sanders, Techfugees’ database manager. Tara unveiled Basefugees – Techfugees’ new web-based platform to support technology projects, explaining how it worked and who could submit projects.
If you missed Monday’s event you can see it on livestream below.
For more information contact, Louise Fuchs,
Communications Manager Schibsted Product and Technology
M: +4790256948