UN Volunteers and digital power help India cope with disasters

["Irfan Khan" <khania2@super.net.pk>]

[from UNDP Newsfront - 4 June 2003]


UN Volunteers and digital power help India cope with disasters

Wednesday, 4 June 2003: National UN Volunteers [http://www.unv.org/ ] 
in India are teaming up with UN Information Technology Services 
(UNITeS) [http://www.unites.org/ ] to help one million villages 
prepare for earthquakes, cyclones and other calamities that claim 
lives and undermine development. 

The US$27 million disaster risk management programme is scaling up 
recovery efforts by UN Volunteers in UNDP-supported programmes after 
the 2001 earthquake in the western state of Gujarat and the "super 
cyclone" that devastated the eastern state of Orissa in 1999. 
National UN Volunteers working with UNITeS set up online information 
booths in inaccessible villages in Orissa and trained local people, 
including women with little or no education, to operate them. 
Villagers and administrators can get data on market prices for farm 
produce and weather warnings, and link up with district authorities. 
The project was a finalist in last year's Stockholm Challenge, which 
honours pioneering information and communications projects worldwide. 

Volunteers in Gujarat are helping government agencies use digital 
technology to share information widely. A volunteer working at the 
Gujarat State Disaster Mitigation Authority created an online 
information hub that provides comprehensive information on 
rehabilitation activities, including seismically safe construction 
technology. 

The new programme, launched by the Ministry of Home Affairs with UNDP 
support, will work with communities in 125 districts across 12 states 
to prepare contingency plans and train more than three million people 
on local emergency task forces. Over 200 UN Volunteers should be in 
place by the end of the month, according to Saroj K. Jha, who heads 
UNDP activities [http://www.undp.org.in/dmweb/index.htm ] to help 
poor communities, which are the most vulnerable, reduce the risks of 
disaster. 

The programme, running through 2007, covers the remote north-eastern 
region, as well as states such as Bihar near that area, one of the 
country's poorest. Orissa and Gujarat will continue to be at the 
heart of the national effort to prepare communities to deal with 
disasters, however. The volunteers will also help communities prepare 
for long-term emergencies such as drought. 

UNDP focuses on community-based disaster management, capacity 
building, early warning and advocacy, noted Brenda Gael McSweeney, 
UNDP Resident Representative and UN Resident Coordinator. "Partnering 
with UN Volunteers, we want to create people-centred systems to help 
communities empower themselves to take charge of their lives during 
difficult situations," she said. 

"UNITeS has empowered people through use of digital technology as a 
tool for promoting transparency and good governance," said UN 
Volunteer and UNITeS leader Sujit Mohanty. It has also supported 
disaster management by tracking trends and creating an inventory of 
human and material resources that can be quickly deployed in 
emergencies, he said. 

In addition to UNITeS activities, a team of 135 national UN 
Volunteers around the country is boosting disaster preparedness in 
remote areas, linking communities, local governments and civil 
society organizations. They include doctors, engineers, architects, 
planners and watershed specialists. 

For further information please contact Kumar Tiku, UNDP India, or 
Trygve Olfarnes, UNDP Communications Office.