Relieving human suffering with ArcGIS MapAction Challenge Co-ordinating relief efforts during humanitarian disasters Benefits Most competent and experienced emergency mapping team in the world Fast, flexible response to any humanitarian emergency Provision of support for locals in building capacity Case study
When disasters like earthquakes and floods occur, entire geographies can be altered beyond recognition. Villages, roads and railways can be destroyed, entire hillsides can slip into valleys and people congregate in different places. As a result, relief agencies can find it hard to distribute aid quickly to those who need it most. 2 The charitable organisation MapAction uses ArcGIS to create and distribute real-time maps of a disaster zone. Produced within hours of major incidents, its maps help governments and charities to better coordinate aid and relieve human suffering.
The speed and slickness of ArcGIS is a very important factor in enabling us to fulfil our role. Nigel Woof, chief executive of MapAction. The client MapAction is a not-for-profit organisation that provides a rapid mapping service in a humanitarian emergency. Its maps have supported the vital work of the United Nations, national governments and leading international charities in dozens of humanitarian crises and have helped to improve conditions for millions of people in developing countries. The challenge When humanitarian disasters occur, good intentions need to be coupled with good coordination. It is not an easy task to distribute food and medical supplies when roads are impassable or organise hundreds of volunteers to search for survivors when the entire city has been reduced to rubble. On arrival in a disaster zone, aid agencies need to be able to quickly understand where the most vulnerable people are, how to get to them and what they most need. MapAction was founded in 1997 to help the international aid community to respond to precisely these kinds of challenges. It knew that electronic maps rather than paper maps would play a crucial role in its work, and it soon found out about GIS. After conducting some thorough market research, the charity approached Esri UK and talked to the company about Esri s ArcGIS solutions. This was before GIS had become as important to the globe as it is now, comments Andrew Douglas-Bate, chairman and founder of MapAction. It was important for us to work with market-leading software, so that we could be confident of relying upon the very best technology available. As a new venture, it was also important for our reputation for us to be associated with a strong, stable UK organisation. Solution and capability delivered Straight away, Esri UK recognised the huge worth of MapAction s mission. Esri UK gave us a deep commitment, believes Douglas- Bate. We felt that the people we spoke to at Esri UK had a gleam in their eyes when we talked about our goals. In a quiet, professional way, they were so enthusiastic about what we were doing that we immediately knew that we had found the right partner. Since 2003, Esri Inc has provided MapAction with complimentary ArcGIS solutions. The charity primarily uses Esri s ArcEditor software, part of the ArcGIS Desktop range of solutions, to collate diverse data sets, topography, road network diagrams and satellite imagery, and display a broad range of information on a single, up-to-date map of the region. In a lot of organisations, GIS technicians may be updating or producing one new map product in a month, says Nigel Woof, chief executive of MapAction. In contrast, we are often producing dozens of new map products and updating existing ones every day. The speed and slickness of ArcGIS is a very important factor in enabling us to fulfil our role. Esri UK also supports MapAction by allowing several of its employees to volunteer for the charity. In the event of a sudden onset of disaster, the company permits these employees to take a leave of absence at very short notice, so that they can use their GIS skills to help relieve human suffering. One of the primary goals of MapAction is to provide a quick response. The first few hours of any disaster are absolutely crucial; this is when lives can be saved, says Douglas- Bate. MapAction receives an alert about a major incident, usually within an hour of it occurring. It then immediately puts volunteers on standby and starts to amass as much data as possible about the region to assist with the preparation of the first maps. When the call to deploy comes in, a team can usually be dispatched in a matter of hours. On arrival in a disaster zone, MapAction team members, equipped with GPS units and sophisticated satellite communications survey the area and use ArcGIS to mark the locations of accessible paths, bridges 3
MapAction is now called upon by the United Nations and others to be one of the first responders in an emergency situation. Nigel Woof, chief executive of MapAction. that are still standing and visible landmarks such as mosques. Quickly, they add as much information as they can get from any reliable source and plot in on the maps of the area, including the locations of temporary refuges and large groups of displaced and needy people. As soon as new information becomes available, the team updates these maps in real-time, prints hard copies and disseminates them to aid agencies. Recently, Esri Inc donated ArcGIS Server technology to MapAction. Consequently, volunteers at head office can now actively support the work of teams overseas. Provided Internet connectivity is available near the disaster area, maps developed in the field can be mirrored at head office. This means that volunteers in the UK can perform additional data tasks, update maps of the disaster region and return them to the team working in the field. By doing additional work from the UK, we can relieve the pressure on our teams in the disaster area, who are often working in very challenging, tiring circumstances, says Woof. The benefits ArcGIS technology plays a pivotal role in enabling MapAction to achieve its mission and improve the coordination of aid to those in need. The software has been used on laptop computers in countries all over the world, in some of the most harrowing and challenging circumstances, and has helped to save lives and relieve human suffering. Supporting the international aid community MapAction s first major deployment was to Sri Lanka following the huge tsunami that devastated the country on Boxing Day 2004. A twelve-man team stayed in the country for three weeks and created map after map, plotting everything from the locations of food stations to the areas where doctors and medical aid were most urgently required. The president of Sri Lanka visited the MapAction team to see ArcGIS in action and to personally show her appreciation of the work they were doing. Since then MapAction has carried out over twenty five emergency missions in response to disasters including earthquakes, tropical storms, hurricanes, a volcano, floods and complex conflict-related situations. In doing so, it has supported the work of the United Nations and some of the world s largest charities. Earthquakes, floods and conflicts are very different humanitarian crises, but they all present the same need to understand the locations of vulnerable people, coordinate the activities of aid workers and distribute aid supplies, says Woof. In 2008, MapAction responded to extensive flooding in Bolivia, producing 76 maps in three weeks and distributing over 2,000 copies to government and charity workers. Later in the same year, MapAction also deployed a team to help deal with the consequences of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar. It distributed over 3,000 maps and worked closely with the charity Save the Children to help it track its programme of relief aid throughout the devastated region. Saving lives in Haiti When an earthquake occurred in Haiti, volunteers from MapAction were alerted within an hour of it happening and were allocated seats on the first UK government aid flight to the region. Once on the ground, they quickly produced maps to help coordinate the efforts of fifty search and rescue teams. Over the following days, they researched and added street names to their maps, and incorporated new information and aerial imagery, as it became available. Using MapAction maps, teams from different agencies and different countries were able to follow up quickly on reports of possible earthquake survivors, find the buildings they were believed to be in and coordinate incredible rescues. Around 130 people were saved from the rubble of the city. More than 220,000 people died in the disaster and more 4
Through our work, I feel that MapAction plays a role in promoting the benefits of GIS worldwide. Andrew Douglas-Bate, chairman and founder of MapAction. would have perished if it had not been for the international relief efforts that were supported by MapAction, Woof says. Six months after the earthquake, MapAction was still providing a valuable service in Haiti, mapping over 1000 temporary refugee camps that had been set up. Nine GIS staff in the country s National Mapping Agency had been killed in the disaster, so MapAction stepped in to start rebuilding a national geospatial capacity. Distributing aid in Pakistan A few months later, MapAction deployed to Pakistan to help coordinate the delivery of vital supplies to the 12 million people affected by widespread flooding. It produced thousands of maps of the region, showing the extent of the floods, the worst affected areas, roads that were still passable, the spread of aid and the gaps where food, water and medical supplies were still urgently needed. In terms of the number of people affected, Pakistan was the largest humanitarian relief effort that MapAction had ever been involved with, says Woof. Ten volunteers from MapAction worked in Pakistan in various stages, and we were asked to remain in the country for many months afterwards. That really shows the importance of maps in these kinds of circumstances. Responding quickly to any emergency Because of its ability to respond flexibly and quickly, MapAction usually arrives at disaster zones ahead of many international responders. The charity works very carefully with the United Nations and national organisations in the affected country to ensure full co-operation and a seamless transfer of information. MapAction is now called upon by the United Nations and others to be one of the first responders in an emergency situation, says Woof. We are routinely asked to deploy as part of the United Nations Disaster Assessment Team, and the way that we work meshes very tightly with international humanitarian information management processes and systems. Taking preventative action In most instances, MapAction reacts to a sudden and unexpected crisis. However, sometimes the charity can be of value before a major incident occurs. For example, when Hurricane Dean was forecast to hit in Jamaica in August 2007, a team was dispatched to the area ahead of the weather system. In this situation, MapAction used ArcGIS to indicate areas where flooding would be most likely to occur from a tidal surge driven by low pressure. We were able to advise the International Red Cross and help it to prepare and take preventative action, says Douglas-Bate. The future MapAction now plans to expand and develop its use of ArcGIS technology. Esri UK has provided MapAction with free server space in its data centre in Aylesbury, which will enable the organisation to exploit the power of ArcGIS Server more fully and make it easier for its volunteers to access GIS tools, without having desktop software. MapAction is also developing a standardised database structure to help it share information with other aid agencies and improve the speed of response. In between major humanitarian crises, MapAction offers its services to developing countries and aid agencies to show how GIS can be used effectively to benefit whole communities. This is a role that MapAction will continue to fulfil with dedication in the future. Unlike emergency missions, these skillstransfer projects are planned well in advance. Through our work, I feel that MapAction plays a role in promoting the benefits of GIS worldwide, says Douglas-Bate. Summing up, he says: We are a good ambassador for GIS. 5
Being involved in MapAction has taught me that GIS is not abstract; it s not just an IT tool. GIS can and does play a vital role in the global response to humanitarian suffering. Wai-Ming Lee, Internet Services Manager at Esri UK and MapAction volunteer When the tsunami devastated Sri Lanka in 2004, I was part of one of the first relief teams on the ground in the region. I got the call from MapAction while I was cooking dinner on Boxing Day and within a few days I was witnessing the most horrific scenes of devastation and loss. The conditions were difficult, but we had a job to do and we did it well. Support the valuable work of MapAction You can support MapAction by donating money to help train and equip the organisation s rapid response teams. Maybe you could organise fund-raising events and involve your colleagues and friends. Find out more at www.mapaction.org I got involved with MapAction as a volunteer soon after the organisation was founded. For a long time before, I had really wanted to do something worthwhile, but I wasn t a doctor and didn t think that IT skills would be of much value in humanitarian crises. When I found out about MapAction, I realised that I could use my GIS skills to make a real difference to people in desperate situations. Since then, I have been involved in many different emergencies, including missions to the Philippines and Pakistan, each one of which has presented its own challenges. Like all volunteers, I have to be independent and versatile, as well as technically very competent. After every project, however, I return to work with the satisfaction of knowing that I played an important role in helping to save and improve lives. Being involved in MapAction has taught me that GIS is not abstract; it s not just an IT tool. GIS can and does play a vital role in the global response to humanitarian suffering, by helping aid agencies and governments to work together more effectively. I m proud to be involved. Wai-Ming Lee, Internet Services Manager at Esri UK and MapAction volunteer 6
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