Archived Newsroom • Communiqué |
|
ITU deploys emergency communication equipment in Myanmar
International relief effort underway in aftermath of widespread floods
Geneva, 18 August 2015 – ITU has deployed emergency
telecommunication equipment in Myanmar following severe floods which have
claimed many lives and submerged more than 200,000 acres of farmland, damaging
essential infrastructure and thousands of homes.
The emergency equipment deployed by ITU includes Iridium satellite phones,
Inmarsat satellite terminals (Broadband Global Area Networks), accessories and
laptops to support rescue and relief coordination efforts.
“ITU has deployed emergency telecommunication equipment this year in Malawi,
Vanuatu, The Federated States of Micronesia, Mozambique, Nepal, and now
Myanmar,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. “I would like to express my
deepest condolences to the people and Government of Myanmar following loss of
life and widespread devastation caused by recent floods across the country.”
“I am fully confident that through cooperation with international agencies
like ITU, local governments and non-governmental organizations, we can mitigate
the effect of the disaster, and recover quickly,” said U Myat Hein, Union
Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Myanmar.
“The floods in Myanmar have created a dire humanitarian situation,” said Mr
Brahima Sanou, Director of ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau. “In order
to rapidly deploy emergency telecommunication equipment in areas affected by
natural disaster, ITU continues to coordinate and facilitate the creation of
partnerships among all stakeholders involved in the deployment and use of
telecommunications in humanitarian work.”
“Information and communication technologies play a critical role when
disaster strike,” said Mr Soe Tein, Director General of the Posts and
Telecommunications Department, Ministry of Communications and Information
Technology. “Without communications, we cannot support the priority needs of the
people affected.”
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (UNOCHA), as of 17 August more than 1,152,490 people have been affected,
103 people have died, and more than 15,000 homes have been destroyed.
At the Third UN Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai, Japan,
in March 2015, ITU emphasized that with over 7 billion mobile cellular
subscriptions worldwide, almost 3 billion people connected to the Internet and
with 4.9 billion connected devices, ICTs have a vast potential to support
disaster management efforts.
ITU considers emergency telecommunications as an integral part of the
post-2015 sustainable development agenda. Through innovative and easy-to-use
technologies, local communities can be empowered to provide early warning
signals and also act as first responders when disaster strikes.
For more information, please contact:
Sanjay Acharya
Chief, Media Relations and Public Information, ITU
|
Monica Albertini
Communication Officer
Telecommunication Development Bureau
|
|
About ITU...