UNHCR, WFP data sharing collaboration yielding results for refugee management in Tanzania

Food distribution for refugees in Tanzania is getting easier with the use of a data sharing tool recently introduced by the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

Dubbed PRIMES Interoperability Gateway (PING), the platform is being used by the World Food Program (WFP) alongside its own comprehensive refugee data management system (SCOPE) as an innovative process to easily identify and provide food assistance to refugees in various camps across the country, accruing to a UNHCR blog report.

PING is a novelty premised on the UNHCR’s PRIMES – a biometrics-based population registration and identity management system used by the agency to facilitate aid distribution by ensuring that those who get served at the point of service are eligible persons.

Via PING, WFP personnel are able to request for data to verify the identity of refugees at the time of collecting food rations and other supplies. The system allows the UNHCR to share data with other requesting organizations in an efficient, safe and convenient manner.

“Once we receive the data from PING, we upload it into SCOPE for assistance planning. The information is subsequently synchronized onto our portable mPOS devices used during food distributions,” says John Msocha, head of IT operations at WFP Tanzania.

“These help us verify identities of beneficiaries, ensuring that the right person receives the intended entitlement; and print receipts for the food baskets. Refugees then collect the food basket, containing beans, sugar, salt, maizemeal and other items in exchange of the receipt.”

The Registration and Identity Management Officer at UNHCR Tanzania, Tobias Tjivirura, explains that each time there’s need for aid distribution, a data sharing request is made by the WFP.

The official adds that in line with their data security and safety standards, they “don’t share more data than absolutely necessary, to minimize, as much as possible, the risks that come with regular data sharing.”

Speaking about the benefits of the new data-sharing tool, Tjivirura called it “a game-changer.”

“The interoperability project has enhanced coordination between WFP and UNHCR. It opens the door for further engagement and utilization of common services in the camps to serve the beneficiaries. In particular, it brings efficiencies in data management and guarantees data security through direct data exchange on the two platforms.”

According to the official, using the PING platform brings three major benefits, namely expediting the data transfer process, allowing for bi-directional data transfer between the UNHCR and the WFP, and the possibility of adding biometric data to existing information as an extra security overlay.

The UNHCR has been using its biometrics program to assist refugees and other forcibly displaced persons around the world.

Article Topics

Africa  |  biometrics  |  data protection  |  data sharing  |  humanitarian  |  identity management  |  refugee registration  |  Tanzania  |  UNHCR