TSF
Emergency Telecoms Team Deploys to the Dominican
Republic
in Wake of Tropical Storm Noel United Nations Foundation and
The Vodafone Group Foundation Support
12th Rapid Response Mission in 18 months
November 5, 2007 - The United
Nations Foundation and The Vodafone Group Foundation
today announced the deployment of a rapid response
team from Télécoms Sans Frontières
(TSF) to the Dominican Republic, which has been
badly hit by heavy rain, flash floods and mudslides
caused by Tropical Storm Noel.
“Communications are vital to international
relief workers’ ability to act quickly to
provide on-the-ground assistance and help save
lives. Without effective communications, the life-saving
work of those providing food, water, medicines,
and shelter could be seriously compromised. As
it has done time after time, TSF is answering
the call in emergencies. We are proud to be a
partner in these efforts,” said Kathy Calvin,
chief operating officer of the United Nations
Foundation.
The TSF team deployed within 24 hours at the request
of the United Nations Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA). The TSF team
arrived Thursday evening in the Dominican Republic
capital Santo Domingo, carrying IT and satellite
communications equipment to set up emergency communication
centers that will benefit humanitarian relief
organizations and affected civilians. The TSF
team will support a six-member UN Disaster Assessment
and Coordination agency team dispatched by OCHA.
“Through our partnership, we are committed
to helping TSF use communications to facilitate
international response and recovery. By bringing
improved telecommunications access to relief workers,
TSF enables the recovery effort to work more quickly
and effectively. In situations like these, time
is absolutely critical and every moment saved
in an emergency operation can mean the difference
between life and death,” said Andrew Dunnett,
director of the Vodafone Group Foundation.
The mission to the Dominican Republic is the 12th
rapid response deployment supported by the United
Nations Foundation and The Vodafone Group Foundation
Partnership in the past 18 months. Since the first
mission to respond to flooding in Suriname in
May 2006, TSF has deployed at the UN’s request
to support emergency humanitarian relief efforts
after earthquakes in Indonesia and Peru; floods
in Mozambique, Uruguay, and Ghana; the April 2007
tsunami in the Solomon Islands; and in the aftermath
of Hurricane Felix in Nicaragua in September 2007.
TSF has also deployed at the UN’s request
to conflict zones in Darfur, Sudan; in the eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo; and in southern
Lebanon.
“The past 18 months of successful TSF deployments
with the United Nations demonstrate the importance
and the impact of the United Nations Foundation
and The Vodafone Group Foundation Partnership
in providing rapid and reliable communications
to the humanitarian community in emergencies.
Thanks to this support, in the last two months
alone, TSF was able to respond to five emergencies
worldwide to the benefit of over a dozen aid agencies
and thousands of affected civilians,” said
Jean-François Cazenave, director of TSF.
Since May 2006, when TSF signed an agreement with
the United Nations to become the first NGO formally
partnering with the UN in emergency response telecommunications
work, the United Nations Foundation and The Vodafone
Group Foundation Partnership has funded the deployment
of TSF teams that can respond to disasters anywhere
in the world within 48 hours. TSF teams deploy
from centers in France, Thailand, and Nicaragua
to provide emergency communications to UN agencies
and other emergency responders and establish call
centres for refugees and disaster victims.
# # #
Notes to editors:
A statement from the UN Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on November 1 reported:
“Heavy and prolonged rainfall hit most of
the country on Sunday, which caused major flooding
and landslides. Some 80 % of the country has been
affected, 54 people have been killed, 21 remain
missing, and some 58,000 are displaced or have
been evacuated. In addition, 41 communities are
currently isolated, over 24,500 homes have been
partially destroyed, while over 600 are completely
destroyed, and 21 bridges and highways have been
affected. However, as some areas are still cut
off, these figures are likely to increase.”
Recent TSF Deployments
In early September, a total of 15 TSF responders
deployed to Nicaragua immediately after Hurricane
Felix smashed into the Central American nation’s
Atlantic coast, destroying infrastructure, severing
communications, and leaving hundreds of thousands
homeless. During the month-long emergency phase
of its response, TSF installed three communication
centres that strengthened the operations of over
50 aid agencies. Simultaneously, TSF ran humanitarian
calling operations that enabled over 1,100 affected
families in 38 remote affected communities to
place calls to a loved one. With the affected
communications systems restored, TSF’s emergency
response phase ended in early October.
Less than 24 hours after the devastating August
15 earthquake that hit Peru killing more than
500 people and leaving over 200,000 homeless,
a TSF crew of emergency telecom specialists was
deployed to support rescue teams and affected
civilians in the coastal towns of Pisco, Ica,
Chincha, and Canete. TSF installed two satellite-based
Emergency Communication Centres (ECCs), offering
Internet access, voice and fax lines, and IT assistance
to at least 17 organizations involved in relief
operations. Over the 35 days of the mission, TSF
enabled more than 3,400 MB of data to be exchanged
by aid agencies and offered almost 100 hours of
voice communications. In addition, more than 600
families (approximately 3,000 people) benefited
from a call to a loved one.
A/V material
Audio and video podcasts and high-resolution photographs
from the field will be available to the media
upon request.
About the UN Foundation and the Vodafone Group
Foundation Partnership
The UN Foundation-Vodafone Group Foundation Partnership
strives to be the leading public-private alliance
using strategic technology programmes to strengthen
the UN’s humanitarian efforts worldwide.
Created in October 2005, with a £10 million
commitment from The Vodafone Group Foundation
matched by £5 million from the UN Foundation,
the Partnership has three core commitments: (1)
to develop rapid response telecoms teams to aid
disaster relief; (2) to develop health data systems
that improve access to health data thereby helping
to combat disease; and (3) to promote research
and innovative initiatives using technology as
an agent and tool for international development.
Further information can be found at: www.unfoundation.org/vodafone.
Supporting Télécoms Sans Frontières
(TSF)
The UN Foundation-Vodafone Group Foundation programme
has supported the TSF rapid deployment teams since
May 2006, when TSF signed an agreement with the
United Nations to become the first NGO formally
partnering with the UN emergency response telecommunications
work. In October 2006, TSF was named "First
Responder" of the UN Emergency Telecoms Cluster
(ETC) – a group created by the UN Organisation
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance
(OCHA) and lead by the children’s agency
(UNICEF) to more effectively and efficiently use
telecommunications tools and resources in responding
to humanitarian emergencies. TSF plays a key role
in the first phase of disaster response, in which
it opens telecoms centres for the humanitarian
relief community during the first 30 days following
a crisis and helps ensure the transition toward
longer-term solutions to cover the rest of the
emergency phase.
Media contacts:
In Washington DC:
Adele Waugaman
United Nations Foundation
(t) + 1 202 887 9040
(e) awaugaman@unfoundation.org
(w) www.unfoundation.org/vodafone
In London:
Katherine Danby
Vodafone Group Foundation
(t) + 44 (0) 7795 047 471
(e) katherine.danby@vodafone.com
(w) www.vodafonegroupfoundation.org
Darren Milner
Four Communications
(t) + 44 (0) 870 444 4568
(e) darren.milner@fourcommunications.com
