Reuters gives online space to aid community
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| AlertNet will give aid wor
kers early notice of natural disasters such as the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo |
London, 4 September 2002 - A new deal between the global news provider Reuters and the European Space Agency (ESA) will make satellite information more accessible to international aid workers, giving them early notice of natural disasters.
The new service, part of the AlertNet (www.AlertNet.org) website for the humanitarian relief community, will make it easier for aid agencies to predict natural disasters and help mitigate their effects.
AlertNet was set up by the Reuters Foundation, the firm's educational and charitable trust, in a drive to share the benefits of its communication networks and information-gathering expertise with the communities in which it operates.
AlertNet has served as an online meeting place for the world's aid community and a free news and information service on international disaster relief. The current site features satellite images of natural disasters such as flooding, earthquakes, drought and volcanic eruptions.
Under the new agreement, the site will be able to publish additional information, and ESA will increase users' awareness of the benefits of satellite imagery for a range of humanitarian relief activities.
According to AlertNet's editor Mark Jones, analysis of the earth from space can help keep the aid community a step ahead of certain natural disasters, such as drought. For example, the site contains earth observation data that point to the possible return this year of the El Nino weather pattern, showing a clear image of raised temperatures along the west coast of South America - and a warning of the climatic events that this could trigger.
"We get the EU space agency views on what the images show, and present the information on a level that non-experts can understand, in the hope that any serious weather changes won't come as a surprise," said Mr Jones.
Earth observation has already helped aid organisations such as Oxfam reduce the vulnerability of poor communities to flooding, plan relief in advance, and make clear maps.
Together with ESA and an independent space consultancy, AlertNet plans to develop services such as tropical storm tracking and forecasting, up-to-the-minute mapping of volcanoes, earthquake zones and population movements, and data analyses that could sound the alarm for famine or predict epidemics.
AlertNet was set up in 1997 to act as a clearing house for information on humanitarian crises. With reports from Reuters, its own network of correspondents and aid workers at the scene of disasters, as well as satellite imagery and country profiles, it aims to help relief professionals make life-saving decisions.
Paul Mylrea, who was editor of AlertNet through much of its early development, believes Reuters shares its values with the international aid community.
He said: "There is a unity of principles - accuracy, speed and integrity.
"There was a general feeling among our journalists that we could be giving something back. The role of a reporter is to get information so that the experts can respond."<
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Merlin is one of AlertNet's 180 member organisations in 36 countries. The charity provides antenatal care, trains health professionals and rebuilds local healthcare systems for vulnerable populations around the world.
Merlin's John Harper said AlertNet's help - both at headquarters and on field sites - goes further than broadcasting information.
He said, "The key to AlertNet is that it's a focal point. Our human resources department advertise all of their posts and training schemes, as a lot of people interested in humanitarian work know AlertNet. This is very important as it enables us to get staff quickly."
"In addition to the web-based services, AlertNet's editor has come to training courses for the humanitarian sector. He did a course for aid organisations on dealing with the media."
Reuters Foundation has set up a rapid-response fund for disaster relief. AIDfund works in tandem with AlertNet members in the wake of natural disasters. Its decision-making panel advises on the most urgent needs and gets money quickly to selected agencies working on the ground.
AIDfund helped Merlin's emergency healthcare activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo in January 2002 when Mount Nyiragongo erupted and crushed tens of thousands of homes. Merlin's teams supported emergency health centres and then pushed for their conversion to primary outlets for sustainable health care.
"AIDfund gave us some money towards our emergency activities for the Goma volcano," said Mr Harper. "We used it to buy communications equipment to help health teams separated by the lava flow."
According to editor Mark Jones, a quarter of AlertNet's audience is in the Middle East and Africa.