Page 18 - DIVA_2_2013

Interview with

Einar Bjorgo

Programme Manager

UNOSAT

Q: You have been managing offices in develop-
UNOSAT for almost a year now ing countries.
and were officially appointed
Programme Manager in the Q: Over the
spring of 2013. What do you years, UNOSAT
consider as the main achieve- has grown to
ments, and where would you become one of
like to see UNOSAT in a couple the main provi-
of years? ders of satellite
images for the humanitarian sharable GIS data for local mapping
I would say that there are three agencies in Geneva. Could you by teams on the ground who do not
main achievements during the past tell us what you do and who for? have the expertise to analyse the
year. Firstly, doubling our capacity imagery. In this way, the synergies
development output. Secondly, put- Since UNOSAT first started providing gained from having one entity -
ting systems in place for routinely operational services to the humani- UNOSAT - do the analysis and then
sharing our satellite-image-derived tarian community back in 2003, we share the results for specific cluster-
data, such as flood extents and storm have steadily increased our support thematic or sectoral mapping are
damage assessments, for in-house to agencies, such as UNHCR, WHO, considerable. It is a pleasure for me
mapping by our sister agencies, the UNICEF and, of course, OCHA and as a manager to see the wonderful
NGO community and other part- other sister agencies. In addition, feedback we receive from our collea-
ners. And thirdly, we have further we work closely with both the Inter- gues working in the disaster-affected
increased our support to the Office of national Committee of the Red Cross areas. It seems that our efforts really
the High Commissioner for Human (ICRC) and the International Fede- do make a difference.
Rights (OHCHR) and the various ration of Red Cross and Red Crescent
commissions of inquiry mandated by Societies (IFRC), as well as the NGO Q: Is UNOSAT available to
the Human Rights Council. community. Our 24/7 on-call sys- services other than the humani-
tem allows for rapid action following tarians in the UN system?
Our latest addition to capacity deve- requests from humanitarian agen-
lopment and training is an initiative cies. When a disaster strikes, the Yes, absolutely! We work closely
to further strengthen the Intergo- humanitarian community typically with the ICRC and IFRC, but also
vernmental Authority on Develop- calls on UNOSAT to provide analysis with international NGOs, like Me-
ment (IGAD), an East African or- of satellite imagery over the affected decins sans Frontières (MSF) and
ganization of member states from area so as to have an updated global the Agence d'Aide a la Cooperation
the region's disaster risk reduction view of the situation on the ground. Technique et au Développement
(DRR) role, by taking advantage of Exactly where and how big is the (ACTED). Equally important is our
Geographic Information Systems problem? How many buildings have collaboration with national enti-
(GIS) and earth observation, i.e. been destroyed after an earthquake ties from disaster-prone countries.
satellite and aerial imagery. In addi- and what access roads are available Together with ACTED, we initiated
tion, we continue supporting capa- for providing emergency relief to the REACH so as to provide more effec-
city development DRR activities in affected population? We get these tive information for humanitarian
Asia with our partner Asian Disaster answers by requiring the satellites action on the ground and at head-
Preparedness Centre (ADPC). We are to take new pictures and comparing quarters. REACH is run by the Swiss
also working with the Government of them to pre-disaster imagery held NGO IMPACT Initiatives and com-
Chad to improve their groundwater in the archives to assess the situa- bines satellite analysis from UNO-
mapping efforts and territorial ma- tion objectively and efficiently. Our SAT with ground assessments from
nagement. Our targeted and prag- team of professional GIS experts and ACTED into a state-of-art web-based
matic training sessions go down very satellite image analysts then turn the information portal. It should also be
well with beneficiaries typically wor- satellite images into useful products, made clear that UNOSAT works as
king in ministries and public sector such as maps, statistics, reports and much in the development domain

16 International