speakfree is a location-based instant messaging app that allows refugees to interact with their families, aid workers, and other refugees in their immediate surroundings.

With the escalation of the worldwide refugee crisis, the need for humanitarian organizations to disseminate accurate, timely information to a massive user base is critical. The requirement for a real-time data stream network is apparent.

Today we're pleased to announce that PubNub is working with speakfree to enable humanitarian organizations and NGOs to communicate directly with refugees, ensuring a consistent flow of communication to keep them updated with current news, photos and videos. The app automatically translates messages from aid organizations into six languages and is available on both iOS and Android.

Connecting Aid Organizations and Refugees

Aid organizations now communicate with refugees using verified accounts and automatic translations that enable immediate contact in languages such as English, French, Arabic, Urdu and Dari. The addition of chat rooms for individual languages enables refugees to also communicate with each other as well as with local residents in real time.

“The current global refugee crisis is unprecedented and refugees benefit greatly from receiving up to date information about services that humanitarian organizations have to offer,” said Peter Muehlberger, founder and CEO of speakfree. “Without PubNub, we would not have been able to deploy this app so quickly and be able to scale it to hundreds of thousands of refugees and aid workers in a very short time.”

At PubNub, we're thrilled and humbled to aid refugees easily connect refugees connect with both the organizations that can offer assistance, as well as their friends and family during the crisis. We hope that through our technology, we're able to break down communication barriers and ease the hardship these refugees are experiencing.

You can read the full press release here...