GENEVA, 3 October 2016 (UNOCHA): This week the humanitarian information service ReliefWeb is launching a digital campaign to hear from its growing number of users.
ReliefWeb, whose website is now visited by more than 450,000 users every month, was launched in 1996 in the wake of the African Great Lakes crisis to improve the access and the exchange of humanitarian information. Provided by OCHA, the online service was endorsed by the General Assembly in 1997 in its resolution 51/194 which recognized the critical importance of reliable and timely information during humanitarian crises. The repository holds almost 700,000 reports and maps on global humanitarian crises and disasters.
Through the monitoring of more than 4,000 verified sources of information, updates are made on a 24/7 basis by the ReliefWeb teams located in Bangkok, Nairobi and New York.
Over those past 20 years ReliefWeb has harnessed new technologies to improve the accessibility of the information it collects and curates. These efforts are showcased in the ReliefWeb Labs space in order to receive user feedback and suggestions.
A recent development is the release of four mobile applications, which will allow users to access headlines, humanitarian crises, jobs and videos on their smartphone using iOS or Android.
Marking the 20-year milestone, the campaign #iUseReliefWeb seeks to promote the different services while engaging their users.
Videos, blogs and testimonies will be available on the different social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn with the hashtags #iUseReliefWeb and #ReliefWeb20.
What about you? Tell us what you use ReliefWeb for!
