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ITU sends vital communications equipment to Uganda following deadly mudslides
Thuraya satellite phones will help coordinate rescue and relief work
Geneva, 8 March 2010 — ITU has responded with emergency communications aid, following mudslides on the
slopes of Mount Elgon, eastern Uganda, which destroyed villages near the town of
Bududa. The disaster has left hundreds of people dead or missing, and many more
are homeless.
ITU has deployed 20 Thuraya satellite terminals to the area, providing
essential phone links that are vital to the search and rescue efforts. The
equipment, which was dispatched from ITU’s headquarters in Geneva on 3 March,
will also be used to coordinate the logistics of relief work.
"Yet again, a natural disaster has swept away lives and livelihoods. But in
Uganda, and around the globe, ITU will always do its best to help those who need
emergency telecommunications, in partnership with our membership," said ITU
Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré.
The series of mudslides began on 1 March, following days of heavy rain. Now,
homes are buried under metres of earth and rocks. In one case, dozens of
children who took shelter in a clinic are feared dead.
"I learnt with deep sorrow the loss of life resulting from a massive
landslide that swept the slopes of Mt Elgon in eastern Uganda," commented Sami
Al Basheer Al Morshid, Director of ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau.
"This equipment has been dispatched with much urgency to assist in search and
rescue operations and coordinating logistics on the ground," he added.
The terminals sent to Uganda were supplied under a partnership agreement
concluded in 2006 between ITU and Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company,
which is based in the United Arab Emirates. They are solar-powered handheld
devices that support voice and data applications, as well as remote navigation
services via GPS.
For more information, please contact:
Sarah Parkes
Media Relations and Public Information, ITU
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+41 22 730 6135 |
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+41 79 599 1439 |
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+41 22 730 5939 |
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pressinfo@itu.int |
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Cosmas Zavazava
Chief of Division, Emergency Telecommunications, ITU
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+41 22 730 5447 |
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cosmas.zavazava@itu.int |
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