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Photos: Top: UNOSAT trainers guide participants through real scenarios taken from actual emergency response operations; (bottom) trainees receive a UNITAR training certificate after their results are reviewed by the training team...
Micky Welin's career in disaster risk management (DRM) highlights the intersection of education, proactive initiative, and collaborative efforts in building capacity for disaster preparedness and response. In his capacity as the Planning and Logistics Support Officer at the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) in Vanuatu, Micky Welin's journey highlights the transformative potential of targeted capacity-building efforts., The turning point for Micky Welin emerged when he realized the need to acquire advanced skills in geographic information technology (GIT) in the co...
25 February, Geneva Switzerland – The Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithm developed by UNOSAT with the support of UN Global Pulse, the UN Secretary-General's innovation initiative, was used in the recent rapid mapping activation for seasonal floods in Mozambique.
UNOSAT’s Rapid Mapping Service first introduced AI-based methods (UNOSAT FloodAI) during the rainy season in the Asia-Pacific region with a targeted focus on countries affected by the southwest monsoon season from June to September 2020. It was in that context, in July 2020, that the AI algorithm became operati...
11 February 2024, Geneva, Switzerland - A recent study published in Science reveals an inspiring trend: school-age children in the United States are increasingly drawing women when asked to sketch scientists. Over five decades, the percentage of women depicted in these drawings has risen from less than 1% to an estimated 34% by 2016, reflecting a broader shift towards gender inclusivity in science. This transformation aligns with the growing representation of women in scientific fields, marking a positive trajectory towards gender parity.
Amidst this evolving landsca...
16 October 2020, Geneva, Switzerland – UNOSAT and UNDP, longstanding partners, are cooperating on a new satellite imagery analysis application, through the production of maps used in the validation of the civil and electoral registries in Vanuatu’s 83 islands.
In 2017, Vanuatu’s national authorities decided to introduce a “national ID card”, making Vanuatu one of the first countries in the Pacific to do so. The government also decided to link the civil and voter registration databases to increase the integrity and accuracy of the voter register. This would also allow in th...
13 September 2019, Suva, Fiji – Disasters caused by natural hazards and climate change affect about 350 million people on average each year, according to the Global Humanitarian Overview 2019 (UN-OCHA, 2019). The human cost tends to be higher in vulnerable areas of the Pacific SIDS, often due to the limited data available for preparedness and early response actions. To help address this issue in Fiji, UNOSAT and the University of the South Pacific (USP) teamed up for a 3-day mapathon which includes a training of trainers (ToT) workshop, from 26 to 28 August 2019 at the USP ...
7 June 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - IPP CommonSensing aims to support the three selected Commonwealth Small Island Developing States (SIDS) by improving national climate resilience through the use of satellite remote sensing applications. To address climate challenges faced by the partner countries, the consortium has pioneered an innovative project delivery structure, in which a geospatial information portal (the IPP CommonSensing platform) with four web applications – a climate information app, risk information app, map explorer app, and a decision support system – and dat...
Heavy rains in 2018 have triggered both flash floods and river floods in several parts of the country resulting in serious loss of life and widespread displacement of populations, In some provinces these floods are the worst since the early 20th century.
According to UN sources in the field, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Baluchistan, and Punjab have been the worst affected areas. Thousands of people have lost their homes and livelihoods. Crops have been destroyed, and roads and bridges damaged.
The UNOSAT Team, already activated on other current emergencies including floods i...
9 August 2022, Geneva, Switzerland – In July 2019, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Wuhan University (WHU) to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) research and innovation capacities for remote sensing through the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT). Two years and a pandemic later, the collaboration keeps strong, with new WHU students starting their traineeships at the UNOSAT headquarters in Geneva.
“This collaboration with Wuhan University is a great opportunity for us to increase our research...
During the Twenty-seventh session of the Intergovernmental Consultative Committee (ICC-27) on the Regional Space Applications Programme for Sustainable Development (25-27 July, 2023) which was hosted by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).UNITAR-UNOSAT had the opportunity to encounter Dr. Virasith Phomsouvanh. In 2019, Dr. Virasith participated in the course “ASEAN Regional Training Course on Geospatial Big Data Applications for Sustainable Development”, organised by the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) and UNESC...