Reuniting Families: How Digital Case Management is Transforming Refugee Aid
By Zaki Haider, Chief Innovations Officer, mPower Social
In Partnership with Christian Aid Bangladesh
A Family Torn Apart: The Cost of Forced Migration
Asma was five when men came and set fire to her village near Maungdaw, Myanmar, reducing it to ashes in a matter of hours. Her family lost everything overnight and was forced to flee by boat, leaving behind their home, their possessions, and their sense of safety. When they finally crossed into Bangladeshi waters, the boatmen demanded an additional 10,000 taka—money her father didn’t have. The smugglers reacted with cruelty: they tore Asma’s father from his family, abandoning him on a deserted island. In one traumatic night, Asma’s family was torn apart, scattered across unfamiliar lands and uncertain futures.
It took 45 harrowing days for Asma’s father to reunite with his family, finally finding his way to the Jamtoli Refugee Camp in Ukhia. But another obstacle awaited him: as he hadn’t arrived through the official refugee intake process, he wasn’t issued a WFP (World Food Programme) ration card. This meant he couldn’t access the essential food supplies his family needed to survive. Every day, he went to the site management office, adding his story to the complaint book, hoping for a resolution. Asma, clutching his hand, accompanied him daily, waiting patiently, not fully understanding why they had to return each day with the same empty answer.
Navigating Complex Humanitarian Needs: The Challenge of Case Management
For the site managers at these camps, tracking individual cases like Asma’s father’s was a daunting challenge. With thousands of families in similar situations, resolving complex cases required coordination across multiple organizations—each with its own procedures and priorities. The process was often slow, fragmented, and prone to errors, leaving vulnerable people in distressing limbo.
To address these challenges, organizations like mPower, in collaboration with Christian Aid, have developed a digital case management system that is now operational in refugee camps. This system enables humanitarian aid workers to track cases in real-time, allowing site managers to view updates instantly, identify bottlenecks, and respond more swiftly. With this technology in place, cases like Asma’s father’s no longer languish unnoticed. Site managers can act promptly, escalating issues to the appropriate organizations and ensuring that families are not overlooked due to bureaucratic delays. The system has already resolved 85,000 cases, reducing the wait times from 6 months to a maximum of 25 days with simpler cases being resolved in a matter of minutes with improved service delivery, bringing a much-needed layer of efficiency and responsiveness to the camps.
Design Thinking Meets Humanitarian Aid: Solutions for Dignified Care
Refugee camps like Jamtoli face staggering logistical challenges. As of 2023, Bangladesh hosts nearly one million Rohingya refugees, most of whom reside in the densely populated camps in Cox’s Bazar. The needs here are immense and constantly evolving. From access to food and clean water to education, healthcare, and mental health support, managing these camps requires robust coordination between local and international agencies. In the absence of efficient systems, refugees, especially children, endure prolonged uncertainty and suffer further trauma. Asma’s story is but one of thousands, emblematic of the human cost behind data points and statistics.
Design thinking and human-centered design principles have become essential in addressing the unique needs of humanitarian contexts. Unlike conventional project management methods, which focus on predetermined outcomes, design thinking starts with empathy. It aims to deeply understand the user—in this case, refugees like Asma’s family—and prioritize their experiences. This approach brings a nuanced understanding of human stories into the heart of the solution-making process, ensuring that the technology built genuinely addresses the real challenges people face in refugee camps.
Empowering Change: How Technology and Empathy Are Restoring Hope
Technology has a profound role to play in solving complex problems in humanitarian crises, but its impact is magnified when paired with empathy and thoughtful design. A streamlined, compassionate case management system can mean the difference between months of waiting and immediate relief. For Asma and her family, and thousands like them, these innovations offer more than just efficiency—they offer a path to reclaim their humanity, one resolved case at a time.
Human-centered design paired with technology can transform humanitarian aid by building resilience into refugee management systems. Through digital platforms, data analytics, and user-friendly interfaces, case management solutions empower site managers to prioritize urgent cases, track vulnerable individuals, and allocate resources more equitably. Importantly, these tools help to restore dignity to refugees, affirming that their lives are more than numbers on a spreadsheet; their struggles deserve a human response.
