Satellite connections on the road to Tripoli
As a member of the United Nations Emergency Telecoms Cluster, TSF met in Tunisia with teams from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Food Programme (WFP), in charge of the coordination of operations in Libya.
Following this meeting, TSF crossed the border between Tunisia and Libya, at the Dehibat border post in the south of Tunisia. TSF’s objective is:
- – to install fixed and mobile connections at Nalut and Jadu, to facilitate the communication of the hospitals in these two towns
- – to respond to the needs of the humanitarian community on the ground via mobile satellite solutions, for a better coordination and faster exchange of information between the towns of Jadu, Zintan and Garian
- – to install a second fixed hub in Yafran
The telecoms situation is critical: the GSM connections of the 2 local operators are not functioning in this region. Five VSATs allow the towns of Nalut, Kabaw, Ruhaibat, Jadu and Zintan to have shared priority access to the Internet; however the connection is very slow.
The same solutions have apparently been installed between the towns of Rujban and Garyan, but the connections have not been activated, making these towns a priority for TSF.
The TSF team is for now based in Jadu, and will go to Yafran today in order to establish reliable satellite connections along the route towards Tripoli.
This movement necessitates supplementary security precautions. Indeed, security still remains a major problem in the western region of the country, and conflicts still persist between Yafran and Tripoli.
About Télécoms Sans Frontières
Télécoms Sans Frontières: the leading humanitarian NGO specialized in emergency telecommunications
With its 24-hour monitoring centre and relying on its operational bases in Europe, Central America and Asia, Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) crews of IT and telecoms specialists can intervene anywhere in the world in less than 24 hours. After a sudden onset disaster or conflict, they can set up in a matter of minutes a satellite-based telecoms centre offering broadband Internet, phone and fax lines. These centres enable emergency NGOs, the United Nations and local authorities to communicate right at the heart of a crisis. They also facilitate the coordination of aid efforts. In parallel, TSF runs humanitarian calling operation to offer support and assistance to affected civilians, giving them a link with the outside world from which they would be otherwise completely cut off.
Beyond emergency response, TSF is also engaged in ongoing prevention and development programs, including technology centres for local populations, and support to projects in collaboration with stakeholders from multiple sectors (health, agriculture, education…). TSF also organizes general training sessions in emergency telecommunications for other relief organizations and national disaster response agencies in order to reinforce the efficiency of humanitarian action worldwide. Emergency kits are provided to country offices, made of satellite communications and IT equipment and including power supplies, so that when commercial infrastructure is cut, offices can stay connected, report and coordinate with the central agency. These long-term education and training projects lead to positive impacts in economic development as well as capacity building of humanitarian organizations.
Since its creation in 1998, TSF deployed to 60 countries and assisted more than 600 relief organizations and hundreds of thousands of victims. TSF is partner of the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO). In 2006, TSF became a partner of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). TSF was designated “First Emergency Telecoms Responder” within the United Nations Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC).
Télécoms Sans Frontières is also a working group member of the United Nations emergency telecoms body (WGET) and a member of the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA).
For more information, consult:
www.tsfi.org
