The Inmarsat-sponsored aid agency’s annual report — just published — records TSF’s efforts and also marks 2008 as its tenth year helping relief agencies and displaced populations around the world. Early in the year, floods in Bolivia and Mozambique caused TSF to deploy emergency communications centres on behalf of the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team (UNDAC) and Unicef to support many aid organisations with internet and email access via BGAN. Humanitarian calling was also offered to more than 1,000 families in Mozambique using Mini M. In the summer, TSF responded to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and deployed in South Ossetia, during the conflict between Georgia and Russia. Mobile satcoms enabled reports to be sent in real-time so that relief could be coordinated better, while more than 300 families called loved ones via satellite.
Hurricanes Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike battered Haiti in September and October and TSF’s BGAN-equipped emergency communication centre supported more than 30 aid organisations. BGAN helped transmit more than 11,200Mb of data for situation reports, needs assessments, medicine lists and much other vital information. More than 1,500 people were also able to call loved ones via Inmarsat. Floods in Honduras and Panama and an earthquake in Pakistan triggered further deployments while TSF was also called in by the UN to help the victims of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Broadband internet supported aid agencies as people fled to refugee camps in bordering Uganda. Around 2,000 families also used Mini M to call relatives. TSF president Jean-François Cazenave said, “Deploying emergency communications has again proven to be greatly important to civilians and aid agencies in developing countries in 2008. “Thanks to the support of our partners, TSF was able to respond to 10 emergencies worldwide to the direct benefit of 5,328 families and over 100 aid organisations. The tenth anniversary is also poignant for Inmarsat as the organization was our first corporate sponsor.”
