Page 19 - DIVA_No.23_2006

UNOSAT: a unique UN initiative

PAKISTAN - MUREE - Central city area 1:7,SOO

This map shows the centre of the city of Muree in Pakistan on 19 October 2005, after the quake. Maps like these help
determine the extent of damage in the early phases of a disaster and are useful decision support tools both
in the field and at headquarters. Image by QuickbirdlEuropean Space Imaging. Credits: European CommissionlJRC,
UNOSAT
conflicts in Mozambique, in can use the services of a geome- Q: Who are the main users?
It is not often that one
Cambodia, etc. I was at the time ter, or study aerial photos, or It is especially the disaster assis-
of the projects of the working for UNOPS on recon- satellite images, etc. We started tance team that uses our maps
struction projects around the by using satellite images. In fact, during their field missions.
is
United
Nations
world. the satellite photo is less expen- When you arrive at the airport of
awarded an internation- sive than traditional aerial pho- the country that has requested
al prize. This year One of the things I noticed was tography. assistance, you are met by the
UNOSAT was awarded that the work to be carried Out authorities who will give you a
after either a conflict or a natural We soon realized that quite a lot report—they will tell you that
the prestigious ESRI*
disaster was quite similar. In of people needed this kind of such and such damage has
prize, for their outstand- most cases, the infrastructure information, but nobody had occurred, that there are so many
ing work during the was often located in high-risk acquired the necessary know- people missing; dead, etc. You
Tsunami Crisis. zones, as this is the cheapest how. So we said to ourselves that have at your disposal, in fact,
solution. However, to preserve we ought set up a service in quite a limited amount of infor-
the investment made, you need order to facilitate access to this mation. There are no maps
We met with Alain Retiere, one to build roads that will not be kind of application for all the explaining the damage, but with
of the people behind
washed out when the first flood UN agencies, as well as the our maps you will be able to
UNOSAT—the UN initiative to arrives. To do so, you need the NGOs working with the UN, in derive concrete and accurate
expand direct access to satellite
assistance of specialized engi- addition to politicians and other information. Discussions will
imagery through the Internet and neers and other costly expertise, local authorities in high-risk therefore be much more con-
other media tools. The goal is to and often people do not have the zones. structive.
facilitate the physical planning necessary funds to carry out
process of local authorities, proj-
these studies. The errors of the Q: So how do your clients For instance, in 2004 there was
ect managers and field personnel
past would therefore be repeat- obtain access to your services? an earthquake in Morocco. We
working in emergency response,
ed. created maps that showed the
disaster management, risk pre-
As a general rule, the end-user villages that had been affected
vention, peace-keeping, environ- Once you have repaired the requests our services through the by the earthquake, and therefore
mental rehabilitation, post-con-
infrastructure, let it be schools, United Nations. For instance, we the relief teams were able to con-
flict reconstruction and social roads, etc., you need somebody provide maps to the humanitari- centrate the relief assistance on
and economic development.
to administer these territories, an assistance teams indicating those villages that had been
since the United Nations cannot the damage that has occurred completely isolated. The maps
So when did if all start?
do it for ever. However, it is not during a natural disaster. For proved themselves to be
an easy task to administer a terri- almost two-and-a-half years we extremely useful for relief assis-
It all started in the 1990s when tory and if you do not have accu- have been suppliers of maps tance as the victims were numer-
the United Nations, through rate geographical data it whenever a natural disaster has ous and the distances to be cov-
UNOPS (the United Nations becomes almost impossible. occurred, each time showing the ered were considerable.
Office for Project Services), was impact and the size of the dam-
put in charge of the reconstruc- There are several ways of age caused. We work with all the different
tion of disaster areas and local
obtaining geographical data. You UN organizations, but we dis-
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