Empowering Refugees and Migrants in South Africa through ICT4D

The global increase in refugees and asylum seeker numbers is seen to add pressure to already limited resources worldwide. As a result, refugees in South Africa are not always able to gain access to invaluable legal advice offered by non-profit organisations. To improve the access of such information, we examine the design of a mobile information system aimed at improving the dissemination of basic legal information for such individuals. Our design considers the profile of refugees assisted through legal clinics in order to establish the selection of appropriate technologies that not only empower its users through knowledge, but enable organisations to better monitor refugee trends in order to better plan the deployment of resources to enhance the impact of any aid offered.