U-Report is a social messaging tool and data collection system developed by

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

to improve citizen engagement, inform leaders, and foster positive change. The program sends SMS polls and alerts to its participants, collecting real-time responses, and subsequently publishes gathered data. Issues polled include health, education, water, sanitation and hygiene, youth unemployment, HIV/AIDS, and disease outbreaks. The program currently has three million participants in 76 countries.

History

In 2007, UNICEF Innovation used

RapidSMS RapidSMS is a web framework based on the Django web framework which extends the logic and capabilities of Django to communicate with SMS messages. Initial development was done by UNICEF's Innovation Unit for use in mobile data collection and poll ...

to develop U-Report, a platform that would allow anyone to publish real-time information and data analytics in SMS format without the need of a programmer. In May 2011,

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

became the first country in which

launched the U-Report mobile initiative, due to its population being, on average, one of the youngest in the world. Another reason UNICEF cited for introducing the program in Uganda was the nation's high cellphone use compared to other developing nations, with 48% of the nation's citizens owning a cellphone. Due to U-Report's success in Uganda, UNICEF expanded the program to

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

in December 2012 and to

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

in June 2014. In Zambia, U-report was used to prevent HIV among adolescents and young people, with voluntary HIV testing in the country rising from 24% of the population to 40%. In Nigeria, U-Report primarily conducts

survey Survey may refer to: Statistics and human research * Statistical survey, a method for collecting quantitative information about items in a population * Survey (human research), including opinion polls Spatial measurement * Surveying, the techniq ...

s on social and medical issues. In July 2015, U-Report reached a total of one million reporters in fifteen countries. In October 2015,

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

became the first country in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

to join the U-Report program, growing to 68,273 participants by September 30, 2018.

References

External links

Official site
{{Instant messaging UNICEF Organizations established in 2011 2011 establishments in Uganda Public opinion Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Mediation Technical communication Instant messaging Technical communication tools Instant messaging server software Real-time technology

History

See also

References

External links