2 500 Mo transferred for 30 relief organisations
- 1 800 families connected
In Pakistan since October 9th, in fact the day after the earthquake, the mobile teams from TSF, which are supported by the Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission (ECHO), worked through all the affected regions, where from the start of the mission more than 1,800 families were able to be put into contact with another family member either elsewhere in the country or abroad.
The operational agencies from the United Nations (principally UNDAC and WHO), local authorities and some 30 humanitarian organisations have benefited from communications equipment made available in the Telecoms Centres. These centres notably enable rescue teams and humanitarian organisations to send reports and on-the-spot evaluations of the current state and needs of victims. These Telecoms Centres bring together the majority of emergency workers. They facilitate organisation on the ground and the exchange of information, notably by the distribution of satellite maps of the affected areas provided by the UNOSAT agency.
TSF also shared its experience and knowledge by offering technical assistance with computers and telecommunications. Several RBGan terminals were also configured allowing NGOs to benefit from the ability to communicate in real time and with total autonomy.
Muzaffarabad region (since October 10th)
With an average of 20 international organisations for 100 Mo exchanges per day, the Telecoms Centre of TSF fulfilled its role during the initial emergency response. Since October 22nd other structures have taken over.
Up to October 31st, 686 affected families have used the communications set up. The reestablishment of the mobile and land line network and the opening of a free call centre ("Post Office Call") by the Pakistani authorities marks the end of TSF's emergency telephone operations.
Balakot Region (from October 12th)
With a minimum of some fifteen NGOs and 70 Mo of exchanges per day, the TSF Telecoms Centre was significant in the dispersal of emergency response.
In the matter of humanitarian telephones for use by the people, it took four days for the teams to cover the entire town. The GSM network being more or less operational, TSF from then on operated in the villages which were still isolated in terms of communications. The mobile teams operated near to the distribution centres set up by the army and NGOs and also accompanied the mobile medical teams from Médecins du Monde and Kind Health to offer their services to the most people.
In total, there were 950 families who have already benefited from this service. It only remains to cover in the next few days part of the North West of the valley, inaccessible still for the moment.
Takot Region (from October 20th to 24th)
The initial objective was to cover the Batal and Balakot regions. With the view to re-establishing communications (both GSM and land lines) quickly, it was decided to work more to the North of Batgram in collaboration with a local NGO called Sarhad Rural Support Program (SRSP). The roads were dangerous, subject to frequent landslides and daily aftershocks which hindered rescue efforts. In total, 170 families were able to make telephone calls.
Bagh Region (from October 23rd to 27th)
The telephone lines were from then on operational in numerous villages in the valley and the Post Office Call (PCO) installed by the Pakistani government offered several days of free calls for victims.
Even if up to October 31st the GSM network had not been re-established, the reconnection of existing communications systems made NGOs autonomous, therefore there was no justification for mobilising TSF teams in the area. On the other hand, an Inmarsat RBGan terminal providing high speed Internet connections was made available to UN Agencies working in the area.
TSF guarantees its mission until the end of the initial emergency
As of today, a team is based in Balakot to ensure the daily operation of the Telecoms Centre until the end of the emergency, which has not as yet been decided. The telephone operations continue in several villages in the area not as yet covered.
A second team is evaluating the needs of the refugee camps installed in Manshera, Abbotabad and in Islamabad, the capital, to where many victims have been repatriated from the mountainous regions to the North of the country.
In effect, the first snows of the winter have made conditions very difficult for survivors.
Given that telephone lines are operational in these villages and that free call centres have been opened allowing victims to place calls within Pakistan, TSF would like to offer them the chance to call anywhere in the world in order to help them receive more personalised aid and to maintain contact with family members.
On Wednesday Pakistan revised considerably the total cost of the earthquake on October 8th which killed more than 73,000 people and both the Pakistan authorities and NGOs estimate that there will be a second wave of deaths. In effect, three and a half weeks after the disaster, 3.3 million people have lost their homes in the mountains to the north of Pakistan and in Pakistani Kashmir, and those who survived remain without shelter in the face of the cruel Himalayan winter.
More about TSF
Télécoms Sans Frontières: the leading humanitarian NGO specialised in emergency telecommunications.
With its 24-hour monitoring centre and relying on its operational bases in Nicaragua and in Thailand, TSF logistics workers and technical aid crews can intervene anywhere in the world less than 48 hours after any catastrophe or a conflict and in a matter of minutes set up an operational centre on site.
This centre enables aid work to be coordinated and offers support and assistance to victim populations, giving them a link with the outside world from which they would be otherwise completely cut off.
TSF emergency crews intervened in Haiti and Grenada after Hurricane Ivan and Jeanne hit the islands last September and October and most lately following the terrible typhoons that devastated the Philippines at the beginning of December. Emergency crews were also operating in Sri Lanka and Indonesia helping rescue teams in the aftermath of the devastating December 26th tsunami. Between July 31st and October 3rd, TSF Teams provided technical assistance and free communications to NGOs in Dakoro, Southern Niger. Satellite equipment is still at the disposal of VSF Belgium, NGO working on food distributions and malnutrition cases.
TSF is equally engaged in putting its expertise in telecommunications and experience at the service of long term solidarity projects and thus contribute to reducing the gap in sharing the world's numeric resources.
Télécoms Sans Frontières is a working group member of the United Nations emergency telecoms body (WGET). We are also partners of the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) and a member of the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA).
For further information, please contact us at our French headquarters numbers below.
We will be only too pleased to hear from you.
Contact:
19, rue Jean-Baptiste Carreau 64 000
Pau, France
+33 (0)5 59 84 43 60 - +33 (0)5 59 84 43 58
contact@tsfi.org - www.tsfi.org