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Zambia Flood Victims Offered Satellite Phone Services
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has deployed 25 satellite terminals to help restore vital communication links in the aftermath of severe floods that have inundated low-lying districts across Zambia.
Nearly 400,000 people in 19 districts across the country have been affected, with as many as 36,000 inhabitants displaced. The majority of the victims are in Monze (Western Province), Mumbwa (Central Province), Mkushi (Central Province), Mazabuka (Southern Province) and Kafue (Lusaka Province). A total of 3,418 homes and 44 schools collapsed as a result of heavy rainfall, and ensuing floods have destroyed roads and communication links, hampering the coordination and delivery of assistance.
The mobile terminals deployed by ITU are easily transported by road and air to the affected regions and have facilitated the coordination of relief operations by both government and humanitarian agencies to aid the victims of this disaster.
"I empathize with the Government and the people of Zambia for the untold suffering caused by the floods that have left a large number of people displaced and their crops wiped out," said Sami Al Basheer Al Morshid, Director of ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau. "Cases such as this re-affirm the importance of disaster communications and underscore the need for the recently launched ITU Framework for Cooperation in Emergencies (IFCE) aimed at saving lives through the timely delivery of telecommunications resources to disaster-affected areas."
ITU is providing both Thuraya hand-held satellite phones and Inmarsat Global Area Network (GAN) terminals. The Thuraya satellite phones use both satellite and GSM networks and also provide accurate GPS positioning coordinates to aid relief and rescue. The Inmarsat GAN terminals are mainly used for voice communications and, in some cases, can be used for high-speed data.
The ITU pays for all expenses, including transportation of the equipment and its usage.
Posted to the site on 17th March 2008