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East Africa is a region at risk of multiple disasters including drought, floods and complex emergencies. The application of Geographic Information Technologies (GIT) has been fundamental for reducing the impact of such disasters and increasing community resilience.
It is in this regard that UNITAR-UNOSAT partnered with the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in the implementation of a project to build capacities in the use of GIT for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in the region.
The project has efficiently implemented DRR activities at regional an...
23 April 2019, Geneva, Switzerland – 24 technical experts from the government and academic institutions in Uganda successfully completed a one-week course in the use of Earth observations (EO) and geographic information system (GIS) for hazard assessment, delivered by UNOSAT from 25 to 29 March 2019 in Kampala, Uganda. When it comes to GIS technical training, the trend towards a more balanced gender ratio has been remarkably harder to achieve; however, this learning event had over 50 percentages of female participants.
The training was provided in collaboration with Inter-...
6 October 2023, Geneva, Switzerland - To mark its 60th anniversary, UNITAR is organizing in Geneva, starting on the 2nd of October, a photo exhibition, displayed on the Rotonde du Quai du Mont-Blanc (across from the Brunswick Monument), will illustrate 60 years of history as well as stories of UNITAR alumni who made a positive change in their community. The alumni featured in the panel exhibition come from Bangladesh, Brazil, Cameroon, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Kenya, Maldives, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, United Arab Emirates and Vanuatu. The opening c...
23 February 2024, Dhaka, Bangladesh - In light of Bangladesh's susceptibility to a diverse range of disasters, encompassing floods, cyclones & storm surges, river bank erosion, earthquakes, droughts, salinity intrusion, fires, and tsunamis, strengthening its Geospatial Information System (GIS) capacities is imperative. This empowerment is crucial for enhancing the nation's resilience and preparedness in effectively responding to and managing these multifaceted challenges.
In a strategic initiative to bolster disaster resilience, the "Strengthening Capacities in t...
Tropical Cyclone Idai made landfall during the night of 14 to 15 March 2019 near Beira, a low-lying city of 500,000 residents in central Mozambique, before moving inland to neighbouring Zimbabwe and Malawi. The cyclone brought winds of up to 177 km/h (106 mph) and torrential rains that caused rivers to burst over their banks and submerge streets and homes across several provinces in Mozambique. Governmental officials described the damage as "massive and horrifying" while IFRC and UN officials described seeing “water and water for miles and miles” and “90 percent of the Beir...
We offer diverse range of learning solutions. These videos provide an overview of some of our solutions and explain concepts and methodologies., The Chemicals and Waste Programme of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), through various projects, is supporting countries in their efforts to ratify and implement the Minamata Convention on Mercury. Among these projects is the Swiss funded UNITAR project on “Ratification and early implementation of the Minamata Convention on mercury”, being implemented in 16 countries. The objective of the projec...
In the wake of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which claimed over 230,000 lives and left millions displaced, the urgent need for a coordinated disaster response system among international agencies, governments, and humanitarian organizations became glaringly evident. In response, the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS) was established to bridge the gap between real-time disaster data and response capabilities. Integral to this effort was UNOSAT’s development of the Satellite Mapping Coordination System (SMCS) in 2010, following the Haiti earthqu...
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20-21 June 2023, Bangkok, Thailand: Natural hazards, climate change, unplanned urban growth, deforestation, environmental degradation, and scarcity of natural resources are hindering the progress of LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS in building resilient cities and communities. The IPCC AR6 report released earlier this year makes clear that the risks of inaction on climate are immense and the way ahead requires...
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 ...
March 2019, Geneva, Switzerland – The UNOSAT Rapid Mapping Service has been supporting the humanitarian community with satellite imagery analysis for over 16 years. The service was established in 2003 to meet the demand of United Nations agencies, Member States and other humanitarian agencies for rapid mapping and satellite derived analysis in the wake of disasters and complex emergencies.
Last year, UNOSAT assessed 28 humanitarian crises resulting from natural disasters in 22 countries* across Asia-Pacific, Africa and Latin America upon request from sister UN agencies, go...