U-Report is an app supported by UNICEF that allows a person in any country to text or tweet opinions to "decision makers." Only a basic mobile phone is needed – no need for a fancy smartphone or a tablet. Hence why the focus of the app is on developing countries. A person signs up online, via the web site or Twitter (just follow UReportGlobal and you receive instructions via direct message) or sends a text message to a toll-free number to register. Registered users receive questions on issues that may be relevant to where he or she lives - questions like “Have you ever been immunised for measles?” or “What places in your neighbourhood do you feel safest from violence?” Replies can help identify a problem in a community water system, a health emergency in a remote village or a possible child abuse case.
U-Report was originally piloted in Uganda through a partnership between the local Scouts Association and UNICEF. Since 2010 it has grown to over 1.7 million members in seventeen countries and counting — from Burundi to Indonesia, from Chile to Swaziland, from Mexico to Pakistan. Uganda now boasts a staggering 298,000 “U-Reporters”, and all members of the national parliament have voluntarily signed up to the application to monitor what people say in their constituencies. In Sierra Leone and Liberia, thanks to U-Report, it has been possible to connect people to tracing and life-saving services in response to the Ebola epidemic.
The basic model is similar to other innovative citizen participation tools like the UN My World Survey.
Recently, David Beckham, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and the UN Secretary General presented results from a question asked via U-Report:“What is the ONE thing you want leaders to do for children?”
Anyone out there used this? I gave it a try, following UReportGlobal on Twitter and then receiving some very simple questions that I answered and, in just a few seconds, I was "on." Very impressed with the simplicity of a text message sign up.