Located in northwestern Dominica with a population of almost 2,000 people, Wesley was destroyed following Hurricane Maria’s passage, leaving its inhabitants in a power blackout, without mobile network coverage or Internet connectivity.

When planning a training exercise, they say you should always have Plans B and C re

Emergency Telecommunications Sector (ETS) services draw on sustainable energy to keep humanitarians connected

By Elizabeth Millership

With a wealth of wisdom and experience in humanitarian emergency response, Caroline Teyssier is the go-to oracle of the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster.

Being deployed to the Caribbean may sound like a dream mission.

The ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D) helps to improve telecoms in developing countries through international collaboration. ITU-D uses a Study Group structure to conduct research and develop reports, guidelines, and recommendations based on input received from participants.

The tiny southwestern Pacific Island nation of Nauru is facing its first COVID-19 cases.

In one week, the virus has reached about a third of the population.

TACLOBAN - It's my birthday. Not a particularly big birthday, but a birthday nonetheless. When you're part of the recovery operation after the largest typhoon in history has slammed into the side of an island nation, balloons and cake aren't really top of the priority list.

Originally appeared on CDAC Network

As Martin Luther King Jr once said: “If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

Al-Hol camp in north-east Syria is home to 55,000 Syrians and Iraqis fleeing conflict.

Recently, there was a need to ramp up safety and security in the camp.

Over two years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the humanitarian situation, especially near the frontline, has grown increasingly complex.

YIDA - “Let it rain over me,” said Haidar Baqir, WFP's emergency telecoms coordinator, citing a song of the same name by his favourite US rap artist, Pitbull.

By Elizabeth Millership

Nowhere is the basic human need to communicate more apparent than in a disaster situation. Whether it is to find a lost loved one, or gain access to vital supplies or information, one of the first things we reach for is our mobile phone.

This story was originally published on WFP Innovation Acc

It’s a busy day in Kutupalong Registered Camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The entry road is jammed with Rohingya refugees queuing to receive relief goods or trying to take them back home.

The Remote Site on Vehicle (RSoV) solution is effective in situations where essential communication services, such as GSM networks, satellite phone coverage, and Very High Frequency (VHF) repeater coverage, are unavailable.

"I am fully dedicated to working within cultural bounds to make sure women have access to the very ICT that is changing the lives of the rest of the world."

For the tiny Himalayan nation of Nepal, the last two months have been punctuated by earthquakes and aftershocks resulting in large-scale humanitarian response efforts.

It would seem that you learn something new every day in this job. Sitting in the back of a pick-up truck with his colleagues LP Svensson and Mike Duffin of Ericsson Response, Prakash Muniandy (former ETC Coordinator in Vanuatu) had just landed on Tanna from Port Vila.

Since the beginning of the conflict in Yemen in 2015, Aden, the fourth largest city in the country, has been severely affected. The ongoing war has had an impact on a large number of facilities in the city, including World Food Programme’s premises, as well as on infrastructure.

The rain is falling heavily in Cox’s Bazar. The ETS team – Alpha Bah, Chief of the ETC, Phyza Jameel, Services for Communities (S4C) advisor, and myself get into a minivan to visit some of the refugee camps and new settlements in the region. The vegetation around is lush and green.

By Beryl Lo, ETC Information Management Officer

The Emergency Telecommunications Sector (ETS) in Nigeria shows us why it is so critical for humanitarian responders to know how to use a handheld radio to stay safe during field missions, amid potentially perilous security conditions.

"Be confident and stay true to yourself. Your skills and professionalism will get you far."

What is your current role? 

Mzee in Kiswahili means ‘old man full of wisdom’ – a word used to describe Amos Mwea by colleagues at the WFP Somalia Country Office.

With three years of presence in Ukraine, ETC continues to provide critical telecommunication services to the humanitarian community.