Visiting Jordan’s Zaatari refugee camp earlier this year, I was impressed by the determination of the inhabitants to keep up with digital innovations.
The camp’s digital hub was operating in high gear, with a range of courses on offer – from beginner-level to expert. I joined a class where refugee women were learning to navigate the Internet, engage in e-commerce, and use the common digital technologies mentioned in many employment listings.
In the camp’s innovation lab, I saw a collection of robotics projects. Those stood alongside trophies that residents had won for computer-assisted inventions: an outdoor solar charging station that doubles as a shady rest area.
Digital technologies are also playing their part in a strikingly innovative vegetable-growing project in the camp. Tomatoes, peppers, mint, and other edible plants grow in old mattresses instead of soil, and refugees operate digital monitoring systems to track the levels of water and nutrients. The project is sowing not only nutritious crops, but versatile technology skills.
Speaking with humanitarian officials, digital trainers and volunteers, I heard a common theme: as technologies advance, refugees worry about being left behind. They cannot afford to be on pause while the rest of the world is on fast‑forward.
Opportunities for impact
Zaatari is one of the world’s largest refugee camps, opened in 2012 for people who fled Syria’s civil war. Without the digital opportunities the camp provides, that population – currently around 76,000 – would run the risk of living in a time capsule, disempowered and unemployable.
Digital transformation should reach everyone, everywhere – from storm-prone islands of the Pacific to rainforest plantations to challenging environments like the Zaatari refugee camp.
On my visit, I identified rich opportunities for ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) to complement ongoing humanitarian work at the Zaatari camp.
Our Digital Skills Toolkit features a range of courses to acquire vital skills.
We also offer Child Online Protection kits designed for children 9 to 18 years old, as well as for educators, parents, the digital industry and policy makers. Those materials are now available in more than 25 languages.
Urgency in the AI age
With the rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, protecting children online is more urgent than ever. We would like to make sure everyone, wherever they are, has access to our digital education and safety materials.
I want to congratulate the Kingdom of Jordan, the Norwegian Refugee Council and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for their groundbreaking work in the Zaatari camp and the warm welcome they gave me.
The programmes I was so fortunate to witness can certainly serve as a model for others. Because technology stands still for no one, and our job is to extend a hand to anyone in danger of being left behind.
Connectivity for everyone
World Refugee Day, observed each year on 20 June, honours the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution.
ITU’s joint Connectivity for Refugees initiative with UNHCR and the Government of Luxembourg, supported by Spain and Cisco, seeks to ensure that all major refugee hosting areas have available and affordable connectivity by 2030, with the goal of ensure digital access for over 20 million forcibly displaced people and local host communities worldwide.
Digital connectivity – and ensuring it everyone has it – will be in focus at ITU’s World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-25), coming up in Baku, Azerbaijan, between 17 and 28 November 2025.
