U-report is a free SMS social monitoring tool for community participation, designed to address issues that the population cares about.
SMS polls and alerts are sent out to U-reporters and real-time response information is collected. Results and ideas are shared back with the community. Issues polled include among others health, education, water, sanitation and hygiene, youth unemployment, HIV/AIDS, disease outbreaks; social welfare sectors. Data received can be disaggregated by age, gender, parish and constituency.
Registration is voluntary with SMS free to the users across all networks. U-Report is an innovation based, a user-centered social monitoring tool based on simple Short Message Service (SMS) messages (poll questions, results, and sharing of useful information) designed to strengthen community-led development, citizen engagement and positive change. U-Report relies on volunteer community members serving as U-Reporters on a free entry, free exit basis to provide information on issues in their communities.
U-report allows citizens to speak-out on what is happening in their communities, provides a forum to amplify their voices through local and national media, sends alerts to key stakeholders about the issues their constituents are facing, and feeds back useful information to the U-reporters, so they are empowered to work for change and improvements in their localities themselves.