UN Uses High Tech to Bring World Leaders 'Face to Face' with Syrian Refugees

NEW DELHI: This week, as world leaders gathered in New York for the 70th United Nation’s General Assembly, they passed by an unusual makeshift glass structure. This structure uses virtual reality to enable UN attendees to see inside Jordan’s Zaatari camp for Syrian refugees through the eyes of a little girl. Using an immersive video portal, the device allows dignitaries and attendees to have face-to-face conversations with residents of the large refugee camp.

The idea is to put a human face on the deliberations pertaining to the refugee crisis, a subject that figures heavily on the world’s agenda given recent developments that have called upon countries in Europe, the gulf and the US/Canada, to do more for the growing number of refugees.

Part of the experience is is the documentary immersive reality film “Clouds Over Sidra”, which the UN presents in collaboration with Samsung. The film was commissioned as part of the UN’s advocacy at the World Economic Forum in Davos to state and business leaders and offers a unique perspective into the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people.

(The hub at the UN headquarters in New York. Hanna Kozlowska/Quartz)

“Clouds Over Sidra” follows a twelve year old in the Za’atari camp in Jordan – home to 84,000 Syrian refugees. It follows her to school, to her makeshift tent and even to the football pitch. “At the UN, we consistently strive to bring citizens’ perspectives into the decision making process anyway possible” said Gabo Arora, Senior advisor at the UN. “By leveraging breakthrough technologies, such as virtual reality, we can create solidarity with those who are normally excluded and overlooked, amplifying their voices and explaining their situations.”

(Watching “Clouds over Sidra” and other VR films at the hub. Hanna Kozlowska/Quartz)

It’s the first ever film shot in virtual reality for the UN, using the medium to generate greater empathy and new perspectives on people living in conditions of great vulnerability. The film’s powerful capacity to allow anyone on a global scale experience life within a refugee camp has the ability to inspire the message of hope amongst not only the millions displaced but also those motivated to act.

“Clouds Over Sidra” was created by Gabo Arora and Chris Milk using proprietary Vrse.tools technology to craft and curate the original, immersive experience. The film will be shared at the upcoming World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 21st and will be simultaneously released on the Vrse application and iTunes.

“Getting a sense of ‘presence’ from Virtual Reality is an incredibly powerful experience. Doing so in such a heartbreaking place will, we hope, have a profound impact on the viewer that traditional newsreels and film making has so far failed to convey. There is an urgency and visceral immersion to the film” said Patrick Milling Smith of Vrse.works.

It is currently available through the Vrse application which contains an expanding universe of Virtual Reality experiences, available for download here.

After watching “Clouds over Sidra,” diplomats visiting the center will be able to have a real-time conversation with a resident at the camp using a portal.



This year, the UN said that more than four million Syrians have fled the country’s civil war, with many now despairing whether they will ever be able to return to their home country.

Syria's civil war, now in its fifth year, has damaged much of the country's infrastructure and killed more than 220,000 people. Of the four million displaced, a large number are children, with the UNICEF saying that millions of Syrian children face a "high risk" of disease due to the scarcity of clean water and the scorching summer heat.

"The situation is alarming, particularly for children who are susceptible to water borne diseases," said Hanaa Singer UNICEF's Representative in Syria. "Water has become even more scarce and unsafe, and poor hygiene conditions especially among the displaced communities are putting more children at severe risk."

The conflict has prompted a refugee crisis of an unprecedented scale. By mid-2014, Syrians accounted for nearly one in four of the 13 million refugees worldwide being assisted by the UN refugee agency UNHCR -- the highest figure since 1996. Half the Syrian population has been displaced since March 2011 when the conflict began.