DHAKA: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has announced plans to help bring the internet to UN refugee camps.

Speaking at a UN forum in New York, Zuckerberg said it would help refugees access aid and maintain family links.

He also said Facebook would be part of a new campaign to make the internet available to everyone on the planet within five years.

He said the internet could help the UN meet its development goals and lift people out of poverty.

Signatories to the campaign, called the Connectivity Declaration, include rock star Bono, actress Charlize Theron, entrepreneurs Bill Gates and Richard Branson, and Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales.

He said Facebook would work with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

‘Connectivity will help refugees better access support from the aid community and maintain links to family and loved ones,’ he said.

‘Facebook is in a unique position to help maintain this lifeline.’

Some three billion people around the world have internet access, and the connectivity campaign aims to bring the internet to the other four billion.

Zuckerberg says that Facebook has nearly 1.5 million users who log in once a month, and achieved a billion users in a single day for the first time last month.

He has predicted that the site's reach will continue to grow, reports the BBC.

BDST: 2113 HRS, SEPT 27, 2015
RR