Emergency Communications

Disaster Relief Communications

When disasters strike, people need food, shelter, blankets and medicine—but without an effective communications network, supplies are left undelivered, and relief workers are unable to do their jobs.

The United Nations Foundation and Vodafone Foundation Partnership helps emergency relief workers respond more quickly and effectively and reconnects families separated by disaster. The partnership supports the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the UN’s lead agency tasked with security communications in disaster response, and Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF), a humanitarian NGO that deploys lifesaving mobile and satellite technology for UN relief missions. Both groups can deploy to anywhere in the world within 48 hours.

With UN Foundation and Vodafone Foundation funding, WFP and TSF teams provide vital telecommunication support to the UN and other humanitarian agencies during emergencies. View some examples of these recent deployments by exploring the interactive map below.

To view a full list of deployments since 2006, click here.

Click and drag your mouse over the map to view other regions.

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STORIES OF IMPACT

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    Connecting in the Midst of a Disaster

    Area of Involvement: Technology

    Heavy flooding along Mozambique’s Zambezi River displaced nearly 300,000 Mozambicans from their homes in early 2008. Water levels were so high that resettlement camps from a 2007 flooding had to be resettled again.

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    Phone calls and nets comfort DRC refugees

    Area of Involvement: Children’s Health;Technology

    We're helping more than 60,000 refugees in Uganda who fled the conflict in Democractic Republic of Congo by giving them protective bed nets and getting them in touch with their families through emergency communications.

Read more stories »

RESOURCES

  1. mHealth for Development: The Opportunity of Mobile Technology for Healthcare in the Developing World

    Issue Area: Technology

    This report examines issues at the heart of the rapidly evolving intersection of mobile phones and healthcare. It helps the reader to understand mHealth’s scope and implementation across developing regions, the health needs to which mHealth can be applied, and the mHealth applications that promise the greatest impact on heath care initiatives.

  2. mHealth for Development

    Issue Area: Technology

    The most recent publication in our series—mHealth for Development: Mobile Communications for Health—outlines the opportunity presented by the burgeoning field of mobile health (mHealth). The publication examines the rapid adoption of mobile technologies by developing countries to improve health data collection - ultimately precipitating improvements in general health and patient care in some of the most remote and resource-poor regions of the world.

Latest Video

TSF provides a life line for refugees from the DRC

In over-crowded Ugandan refugee camps, without telephones or even electricity, Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) reconnects families and offers a peace of mind in the midst of a difficult situation. TSF’s Oisin Walton reports from the field. Learn more about other initiatives of the Technology Partnership.

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