An often-quoted example for the complexity of an international disaster relief operation is that of the hungry and sick refugee child: Hunger is within the scope of the World Food Programme (WFP), a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN), and of several specialized non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The World Health Organization (WHO) deals with medical aspects of those in need, including refugees. This status however also invokes the responsibility of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and being a child, the beneficiary of the assistance of all those organizations is also of specific concern to the UN Children's Fund UNICEF as well as of several specialized NGOs, and when it comes to education, of that of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

To these institutional relief providers we have to add institutions and organizations on regional, national and local level. And as the disaster will have affected not only children, but the whole society, including other particularly vulnerable groups such as the elderly or the handicapped, the number of partners in relief work will multiply. All of them will have their relief workers at the site of the disaster, and they have national or regional offices as well as headquarters in different continents: WFP is based in Rome, Italy, WHO and UNHCR have their headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, UNICEF in New York, USA, and UNESCO in Paris, France. Add to this the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), both headquartered in Geneva, and the national rescue services from 5 continents often participating in international emergency response. This gives an idea of the complexity of coordination and resulting telecommunications requirements.