Back in 2012, Landmark launched a partnership with the charity, MapAction, which maps life-saving
information about disaster situations so aid agencies can target relief efforts
effectively.
The partnership continues today and as well as being a nominated
charity, members of the Landmark team volunteer their services when their
specialist help is needed. For almost a
decade, Darren Connaghan, a GIS
specialist at Argyll Environmental Ltd, which is part of Landmark
Information Group, has played an active role with MapAction and has been
deployed to support field teams in locations such as Kenya, Haiti and the
Philippines.
His latest deployment has taken him to Africa, where he was part of the
MapAction team in its role in managing data and information for the Ebola
Operation Centre in Monrovia.
As Darren explains, there is a dearth of information managers prepared
to travel to the region and overall poor communication networks in the area,
therefore the role MapAction plays in collating data across Liberia, ensures
that everyone involved in the UN's Ebola response mission is up to date with
the very latest, accurate information related to the aid programme:
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| Darren Connaghan |
“The geographical scope of the
Ebola outbreak is vast, covering three countries - Liberia, Sierra Leone and
Guinea - and it has already claimed thousands of lives. MapAction's mapped
situational analysis helps make the response as targeted and effective as
possible, by bringing together, mapping and information management specialists
to help coordinate the communications in one place.
In this particular deployment, we
were asked by the UNDAC (UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination) team to fly
to Liberia and support them with their information management and mapping
needs. A team of three were initially deployed and I joined them in late
September for a two week period, where I worked from the main Ebola Operation
Centre in Monrovia.
Working alongside government
departments, national departments, military and NGOs, the centre is a hub where
all the organisation of the response mission takes place. We talk to all the aid agencies to find out
what data they need, as well as work closely with the Liberian Institute of
Statistics' GIS department and the US military to build a picture of what the
mission looks like.
In Liberia, radio and telephone
communications are generally poor as are the road networks so much of the
information regarding what has been undertaken in individual locations was
predominantly verbal. This, by its very
nature, is difficult to plot, manage and track and the overall accuracy of data
diminishes as it gets passed from person to person, so cannot be fully relied
on.
Instead, MapAction is able to
coordinate the mapping of critical situational information so that all agencies
involved have a clear understanding on what is happening in each and every
location, at any time.
"Aid in the wrong place is
no aid at all"
“MapAction deployment model is based on self-sufficiency. We arrive with
all equipment required such as laptop, printer, networking kit, paper and in
some deployments, even a small generator as without power, we can't function
for long.
I now have another four week
deployment in Africa throughout November, during which time I will be working
on extending the reach of information managers across the three affected
countries advising on GIS, mapping and product strategy for UNMEER (IN Mission
for Ebola Emergency Response).
As I see it, with the correct
right level of information management in place, you avoid duplicating efforts,
resources can be designated correctly, and everyone involved in the mission has
a clear and current view on who is carrying out what actions and where,
removing uncertainty.
This is also known as 3W (who,
what and where)
Supporting MapAction enables me
to utilise my GIS expertise in some of the most challenging emergencies that we
face today in the world. I am proud to be supporting MapAction in this
deployment and in doing my bit towards halting this deadly disease in its
tracks."
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