Digital Gateway
Providing refugees with direct digital access to protection and services.
As humanitarian challenges grow and resources run low, digital solutions reshape how aid is delivered. UNHCR’s Digital Gateway is a global online platform that gives refugees and asylum-seekers direct access to essential services – no matter where they are.
Built over three years of user testing across six countries, the platform addresses the realities of people navigating displacement: limited connectivity, fragile power supply, low digital literacy, and the need for information in local languages. Users can register themselves and their families through The Digital Gateway, book appointments, and find verified, location-specific guidance on their rights and duties. The solution is currently available in 140 languages and prioritizes accessibility at every step.
Since pilot employment, this solution has reduced the need for in-person visits, improved access to services such as registration and birth certification, and empowered communities to manage their own information safely and securely. At a time when physical offices and camps are closing due to funding constraints, The Digital Gateway offers a durable and user-centered alternative.
This solution demonstrates how thoughtful digital design can empower the most vulnerable and provide continuity where systems are breaking down.
The Jury says
The UNHCR Digital Gateway simplifies humanitarian registration in moments of crisis, restoring a sense of dignity and hope to people who have lost their footing. Its strength lies not in visual appearance but in ethical purpose, inclusivity, and a deep commitment to human impact. The modular design scales across countries, languages, devices, and systems, ensuring it adapts to the realities of each community it serves. By enabling every person to register independently, it creates a powerful shift toward autonomy in situations where it hasn’t always been possible.
The Digital Gateway shows how design thinking can reshape complex offline systems and sets a new benchmark for responsible, human-centred design.