Executive Summary
Between 2025 and early 2026, the Internet Society partnered with the Community Empowerment & Transformation Agency (CETA), Hello World, and the Research and Education Network for Uganda (RENU) on a community-centered connectivity and capacity-building initiative in Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement in Uganda. The initiative is a practical, evidence‑based model aligned with the United Nations Refugee Agency’s (UNHCR’s) priorities of self‑reliance and inclusion for durable solutions.
The initiative is anchored in the Internet Society’s global community-centered connectivity and digital skills programs. Internet Society training curricula—notably the Designing and Deploying
Computer Networks (DDCN) and related community network courses—formed the backbone of the technical capacity‑building effort. CETA led trainings and trained locals to become trainers, expanding the community’s capacity to deploy their own networks and ensuring long-term ownership and stability.
Technical partners Hello World and RENU helped launch the community‑owned “Hello Hubs” in the settlement’s Siripi and Ofua zones. Internet Society-trained local technicians, community governance committees, and emerging sustainable service models support both hubs. By prioritizing people and institutions instead of treating connectivity as a stand-alone infrastructure challenge, the approach enabled refugees and host-community members to design, build, manage, and govern their own digital infrastructure—without creating ongoing financial or technical dependence on outside groups.
