World First: UNICEF New Zealand uses Meerkat app to live stream from Lebanon

UNICEF New Zealand will use the Meerkat app to live stream from an informal tented settlement in Lebanon tonight (Tuesday, 19 May) at 8.30pm NZ time. The stream can be viewed on UNICEF New Zealand’s Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/UNICEFNZ

UNICEF New Zealand’s Executive Director, Vivien Maidaborn, is currently in Lebanon where approximately 1.2 million people, half of who are children, have fled as refugees due to the ongoing conflict in neighbouring Syria - now into its fifth year.

"This is a world first," said UNICEF New Zealand’s Communications Director, Patrick Rose, on the use of the Meerkat app. "Never before has an aid organisation used this technology to go inside and break down the barriers that stand in the way of truly understanding what millions of people forced to leave Syria have experienced.

Huge advances in technology and social media have benefited organisations like UNICEF enormously.

By enabling donors to be taken directly into affected communities, offering an unprecedented and unfiltered level of access, UNICEF hopes this also brings with it a deeper level of understanding of the issues faced by millions of children all around the world.

Mr Rose added, "With the advent of social media and more advanced online tools, the way in which people consume and interact with information has rapidly changed.

“This ground breaking tool enables us to show our donors and supporters, in real time, the impact their donations are making for the children of Syria.

"It is also an opportunity for UNICEF donors and supporters to participate and to put their own questions to UNICEF NZ’s Executive Director via the app.

“This live streaming app brings you directly into the frame of the story rather than being just an observer. You can experience this unbridled reality, as it unfolds: real lives, real people, UNICEF's work in action."

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