Backgrounder
First on the Ground
Communications in Disaster Relief Operations
In preparation for the Millennium Summit, Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced in his
Millennium Report several immediate initiatives, as examples of the kinds of effective
partnerships the United Nations can catalyze. Among these is the "First on the
Ground" project. When hurricanes or earthquakes strike, communications systems are among the first
casualties. This makes it impossible for rescue missions and relief operations to
communicate with those in need and with one another. The communications systems used by different relief agencies and organizations vary
widely in quality and often suffer compatibility problems -- but acquiring more effective
systems has simply been too costly. Responding to this challenge, the Ericsson corporation has launched a major disaster
response programme, "First on the Ground", that, among other initiatives, will
provide and maintain mobile communications equipment and expertise for humanitarian relief
operations, and also help improve existing communications networks where appropriate. The
programme will draw on support from Ericsson’s offices in more than 140 countries
worldwide and will focus on disaster preparedness as well as response. The United Nations – Ericsson partnership includes the UN agencies involved in
emergency response and mitigation, as well as the International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Getting Underway On 31 May 2000, a Letter of Intent was signed between Ericsson and the United Nations
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), on behalf of the United
Nations system, following which a plan of operations was formulated by OCHA and the UN
Development Programme (UNDP). The plan defined the arrangements for cooperation at the
global and country level, and a Working Group on Emergency Telecommunications is further
developing the operational aspects of the partnership. A Technical Working Group met at Geneva in August to solidify the logistics of the
partnership and design an action plan. The group brought together telecommunications
experts from OCHA, Ericsson, UNDP, IFRC and a growing number of interested UN entities. It
is expected that national and regional pilot projects will be set up in the near future.
Meetings have been held over the last three months in several countries between national
disaster response institutions and country offices of the United Nations and Ericsson. Governments have also expressed an interest in the "First on the Ground"
initiative. In early July, Ericsson participated in a panel briefing on "The Role of
Technology in Disaster Response", during the Economic and Social Council’s
high-level segment on humanitarian affairs. Other corporations and telecommunications enterprises, meeting with the United Nations
and various agencies, have also expressed their intent to support international
humanitarian efforts. Such innovative partnerships — bringing together the United
Nations, the private sector and NGOs — offer great potential in tackling problems of
emergency response and disaster mitigation, in a concerted effort to bring the power of
technology and resources to the service of humanity. For more information contact: Jennifer Hilborn Martin Barber Published by the United Nations Department of Public Information
Telephone: (905) 206-6570
Mobile: (1-416) 826-3091
E-mail: jennifer.hilborn@emc.ericsson.se
Director, a.i.
Policy, Advocacy and Information Division
United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Telephone: (212) 963-3344
E-mail: barberm@un.org
DPI/2147/A – August 2000