Project Overview
Context
The Bridges RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) platform was developed for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Cameroon to facilitate the socio-economic reintegration of internally displaced persons (IDPs), returning migrants, and expatriates. It connects vulnerable populations to relevant economic opportunities — employment, vocational training, and entrepreneurship — using artificial intelligence to match each beneficiary’s profile to the most relevant openings.
Objectives
The platform was designed to meet the following objectives:
Provide personalized recommendations for economic opportunities based on each beneficiary’s profile, skills, location, and available capital.
Index and search thousands of opportunities (employment, training, entrepreneurship) efficiently using semantic vector search.
Use generative AI (Google Gemini 2.0 Flash) to analyse profiles and generate relevant, explainable recommendations.
Track recommendation history and interactions to support continuous improvement and impact measurement.
Manage a content security classification scheme (GREEN / YELLOW / RED) so that sensitive data is handled appropriately throughout the pipeline.
Target Beneficiaries
The platform serves several official IOM beneficiary categories. The three primary categories handled by the recommendation engine are:
Category |
Description |
Specific needs |
|---|---|---|
|
Persons who fled their region of origin due to conflict or disaster |
Local reintegration, rebuilding livelihoods |
|
Persons returned to Cameroon after a stay abroad |
Skills valorization, reintegration |
|
Foreigners residing in Cameroon |
Economic integration, local opportunities |
The full data model additionally recognises FORMER_ARMED_GROUP_MEMBER,
AFFECTED_COMMUNITY, CROSS_BORDER_TRADER, and DIASPORA_MEMBER
categories for reporting and partner workflows.
Actors and Use Cases
The diagram below shows every actor and their interactions with the platform, using official IOM terminology. Actors include the Beneficiary, the Reintegration Expert, Government / NGO / Private-Sector Partners, the IOM Administrator, and two automated actors — the AI-Powered Recommendation Engine and the AI Agent Assistant.
%% IOM Digital Tool - Use Case Diagram
%% All actors and their system interactions - Official IOM Terminology
graph TB
%% Actors - Using official IOM terminology
Beneficiary([BENEFICIARY])
Expert([REINTEGRATION<br/>EXPERT])
GovPartner([GOVERNMENT<br/>PARTNER])
NGO([NGO<br/>PARTNER])
Private([PRIVATE<br/>SECTOR])
Admin([IOM<br/>ADMINISTRATOR])
AIEngine([AI-POWERED<br/>RECOMMENDATION<br/>ENGINE])
AIAgent([AI AGENT<br/>ASSISTANT])
%% Subsystem: Profile Management
subgraph ProfileMgmt["PROFILE MANAGEMENT"]
UC01["Register on platform"]
UC02["Complete beneficiary profile"]
UC03["Upload documents"]
UC04["Take skills assessment"]
UC05["Update preferences"]
UC06["Manage GDPR consents"]
end
%% Subsystem: Opportunity Discovery
subgraph OppDiscovery["OPPORTUNITY DISCOVERY & MATCHING"]
UC07["Search economic opportunities"]
UC08["View AI-powered recommendations"]
UC09["Filter by criteria"]
UC10["View opportunity details"]
UC11["Save opportunity"]
UC12["Share opportunity"]
UC13["Interact with AI Agent Assistant"]
end
%% Subsystem: External Redirection
subgraph ExtRedirect["EXTERNAL REDIRECTION"]
UC14["Redirect to job posting"]
UC15["Redirect to training program"]
UC16["Redirect to AGR initiative"]
UC17["Redirect to microfinance"]
UC18["Download auto-generated CV"]
UC19["Receive link via SMS"]
end
%% Subsystem: Tracking
subgraph Tracking["APPLICATION TRACKING & NOTIFICATIONS"]
UC20["Track external applications"]
UC21["Update application status"]
UC22["Configure personalized alerts"]
UC23["Receive notifications"]
UC24["Provide feedback on recommendations"]
end
%% Subsystem: Support
subgraph Support["SUPPORT & COACHING"]
UC25["Chat with counselor"]
UC26["Browse resource library"]
UC27["Request accompaniment"]
UC28["Report issue"]
UC29["Access online training modules"]
end
%% Subsystem: Multi-Channel Access
subgraph MultiChannel["MULTI-CHANNEL ACCESS"]
UC30["Access via Web Platform"]
UC31["Access via Mobile App"]
UC32["Access via WhatsApp AI Agent"]
UC33["Access via USSD Gateway"]
end
%% Subsystem: Partner Management
subgraph PartnerMgmt["PARTNER MANAGEMENT"]
UC34["Create partner account"]
UC35["Submit opportunities"]
UC36["Manage published opportunities"]
UC37["View analytics dashboards"]
UC38["Propose collaboration"]
end
%% Subsystem: AI System
subgraph AISystem["AI RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM"]
UC39["Generate personalized recommendations"]
UC40["Calculate matching scores"]
UC41["Learn from user feedback"]
UC42["Analyze beneficiary profiles"]
UC43["Perform predictive analytics"]
UC44["Send personalized alerts"]
end
%% Subsystem: Administration
subgraph AdminSys["SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION"]
UC45["Manage users"]
UC46["Moderate content"]
UC47["View business intelligence"]
UC48["Configure system parameters"]
UC49["Manage data sources"]
UC50["Manage partnerships"]
end
%% Beneficiary Relations
Beneficiary --> UC01
Beneficiary --> UC02
Beneficiary --> UC03
Beneficiary --> UC04
Beneficiary --> UC05
Beneficiary --> UC06
Beneficiary --> UC07
Beneficiary --> UC08
Beneficiary --> UC09
Beneficiary --> UC10
Beneficiary --> UC11
Beneficiary --> UC12
Beneficiary --> UC13
Beneficiary --> UC14
Beneficiary --> UC15
Beneficiary --> UC16
Beneficiary --> UC17
Beneficiary --> UC18
Beneficiary --> UC19
Beneficiary --> UC20
Beneficiary --> UC21
Beneficiary --> UC22
Beneficiary --> UC23
Beneficiary --> UC24
Beneficiary --> UC25
Beneficiary --> UC26
Beneficiary --> UC27
Beneficiary --> UC28
Beneficiary --> UC29
Beneficiary --> UC30
Beneficiary --> UC31
Beneficiary --> UC32
Beneficiary --> UC33
%% Expert Relations
Expert --> UC25
Expert --> UC27
Expert --> UC45
Expert --> UC47
%% Partner Relations
GovPartner --> UC34
GovPartner --> UC35
GovPartner --> UC36
GovPartner --> UC37
GovPartner --> UC38
NGO --> UC34
NGO --> UC35
NGO --> UC36
NGO --> UC37
NGO --> UC38
Private --> UC34
Private --> UC35
Private --> UC36
Private --> UC37
%% Administrator Relations
Admin --> UC45
Admin --> UC46
Admin --> UC47
Admin --> UC48
Admin --> UC49
Admin --> UC50
%% AI Engine Relations
AIEngine -.-> UC39
AIEngine -.-> UC40
AIEngine -.-> UC41
AIEngine -.-> UC42
AIEngine -.-> UC43
AIEngine -.-> UC44
%% AI Agent Relations
AIAgent -.-> UC13
AIAgent -.-> UC32
AIAgent -.-> UC39
%% Include/Extend Relations
UC08 -.include.-> UC39
UC08 -.include.-> UC40
UC10 -.include.-> UC40
UC13 -.include.-> UC39
UC23 -.include.-> UC44
UC24 -.include.-> UC41
UC14 -.include.-> UC18
UC14 -.extend.-> UC19
UC15 -.extend.-> UC19
UC16 -.extend.-> UC19
UC32 -.include.-> UC13
classDef actorStyle fill:#1565C0,stroke:#0D47A1,stroke-width:4px,color:#fff,font-size:16px,font-weight:bold
classDef aiStyle fill:#F57C00,stroke:#E65100,stroke-width:4px,color:#fff,font-size:16px,font-weight:bold
classDef ucStyle fill:#E3F2FD,stroke:#1976D2,stroke-width:2px,font-size:14px,color:#000
class Beneficiary,Expert,GovPartner,NGO,Private,Admin actorStyle
class AIEngine,AIAgent aiStyle
class UC01,UC02,UC03,UC04,UC05,UC06,UC07,UC08,UC09,UC10,UC11,UC12,UC13,UC14,UC15,UC16,UC17,UC18,UC19,UC20,UC21,UC22,UC23,UC24,UC25,UC26,UC27,UC28,UC29,UC30,UC31,UC32,UC33,UC34,UC35,UC36,UC37,UC38,UC39,UC40,UC41,UC42,UC43,UC44,UC45,UC46,UC47,UC48,UC49,UC50 ucStyle
Figure 1. Use case diagram — actors and system interactions.
The platform groups functionality into subsystems such as Profile Management (registration, profile completion, document upload, skills assessment, GDPR consents), Opportunity Discovery, Recommendation Generation, Application Tracking, and Partner Management.
Opportunity Types
Recommendations are produced across the following opportunity types:
Opportunity type |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Permanent salaried job |
|
Temporary or seasonal job |
|
Professional / vocational training |
|
Income Generating Activity (IGA) / business creation |
|
Professional internship |
|
Apprenticeship placement |
|
Certification programmes |
|
Financing instruments for entrepreneurship |
Worked Examples
Example 1 — IDP with construction skills
Profile: Ibrahim S., 36, IDP from the North-West region, relocated to Bafoussam. Skills: civil engineering and construction, six years’ experience as a site supervisor. Available capital: 3 M XAF.
Recommendations received:
Site Supervisor — SOCADEM Bafoussam —
PERMANENT_EMPLOYMENT, 350–500 k XAF/month, relevance score 0.92.Masonry business —
ENTREPRENEURSHIP, investment 2–5 M XAF, relevance score 0.88.
Example 2 — Returning migrant in healthcare
Profile: Dr. Marie-Claire T., 41, returned from Belgium to Yaoundé. Specialty: gynaecology-obstetrics, eight years’ experience. Available capital: 20 M XAF.
Recommendations received:
Senior Gynaecologist — Central Hospital Yaoundé —
PERMANENT_EMPLOYMENT, 1.2–1.8 M XAF/month, relevance score 0.95.Private gynaecology practice —
ENTREPRENEURSHIP, investment 15–30 M XAF, relevance score 0.89.