"Refugee", the videogame for mobiles with a cause, arrives

They cross minefields to reach a refugee camp threatened by the guerilla. They search for food and water in a foreign country to avoid the death of their children. These are just some of the challenges which millions of women all over the world come across and which Aissa must overcome. The heroine of a new humanitarian videogame for mobiles with a cause presented today by Intermón Oxfam in the Nuevos Ministerios underground station, in Madrid.

Salamanca (Spain), 14th March, 2007

The videogame has the objective of raising awareness on the lack of security and adequate aid suffered by millions of people trapped in forgotten crises. In it, Assia flees from the drought in her country and she must face up to violence and the lack of water and food. These are skill challenges, as in other games, but inspired by the real life of more than eight million refugees and close to 25 million displaced persons all over the world, of which 80 per cent are women and children. The game ends giving you the opportunity to request more attention from the Spanish government to these crises.

"With this videogame we intend to inform the population on a reality which is often forgotten, and when it takes place in the real life it is not a game at all. The refugees require protection and assistance in order to survive as they have had to flee from their homes and have lost all they possessed. We see situations like these every day in places like Chad, where there are more than 230.000 refugees from Darfur, in Sudan, which depends completely on international aid in order to survive in a semi-desert landscape", as Irene Milleiro, responsible for the area of Conflicts and Humanitarian Action in Intermón Oxfam, explains.

If you play, refugees win

After three years under refuge in camps of up to 30.000 people - to which they fled due to the violence in the Sudanese region of Darfur-, the refugees in Chad must face not only poverty but also the violence which has extended to the entire region. The funds raised with the downloads of the videogame - which costs 2.40 Euros - will go to humanitarian aid programs of Intermón Oxfam in the southeast of the country, concretely to the refugee camps of Djabal and Goz Amer.

"When you become a refugee you no longer have a home, a job and, on many occasions, you lose your family and community. We must be aware that this is taking place all over the world and that it is necessary that the governments act rapidly against armed conflicts and natural disasters in order to avoid people from losing all they have. New technologies allow us to bring these realities to many people, especially to the younger ones, as it is very important to be aware of them and to act", Irene Millerio adds.

"Refugee" has been developed for Intermón Oxfam by "Freelance for Free" and the software firm from Salamanca "Unkasoft". The game -which includes "comic format" graphics in two dimensions- has an approximate duration of one hour and is compatible with more than 250 models of mobile telephones. In its mobile telephone version it has been produced using the "Unkasoft Platform J2ME" technology, and in its Web version it has been produced in "Flash".

"Videogames and mobile telephones represent at present one of the most direct forms of introduction to the youth sector. Therefore a product has been developed in which the technological characteristics are not innovating; but the use it is intended for is, to help resolve a forgotten situation, the conflicts which still exist in Africa. What we value the most is the interactivity it offers the player to lend a hand directly in this problem together with IO." according to Juan Antonio Muñoz-Gallego, Unkasoft partner.

Contact details for the Press:

About Unkasoft

Unkasoft is the company for mobile games development and for mobile game development applications which has achieved the automatization of most of the processes needed to adapt contents for all the mobile phones, avoiding fragmentation with their platform. Unkasoft is specialist in advergaming and Mobile Marketing, by discovering a new way of advertising in the digital world.

Unkasoft, Play our games... make your games

More information about Unkasoft can be found at www.unkasoft.com.

Contact information

jamunoz@unkasoft.com

Phone: +34 923 19 44 57

Unkasoft ( http://www.unkasoft.com)

Vivero de Empresas Génesis. c/ Hoces del Duratón 57 (Despachos 11 y 12)

37008 Polígono Industrial El Montalvo II - Salamanca. SPAIN

Intermón Oxfam - Press Office

Carmen Rodríguez, tel 91 204 67 20; 615 359 401 crodriguez@intermonoxfam.org

www.intermonoxfam.org