Missions

On September 29, a devastating 8.0 magnitude earthquake triggered a devastating tsunami. TSF provided telecom and IT support to the organisations present. In coordination with the NDMO, humanitarian calling operations were conducted in the evacuation centres.

The April 2009 earthquake in Italy left 260 people dead and more than a thousand wounded. The onsite TSF team provided emergency satellite lines to the civil protection coordination centres.

Despite a peace agreement signed in 2003, the provinces of eastern DRC are the scene of repeated violence. In the district of Uélé alone, at least 135,000 people were displaced, 900 killed, and more than 700 kidnapped. At the request of UNICEF, TSF installed a telecom centre at the Monuc camp in Dungu. This connection allows United Nations agencies present to respond to the need of thousands of displaced people living on this huge camp.

TSF deployed a team of emergency telecommunications specialists in the Darfur region of Sudan to conduct an assessment mission for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The mission was to assess the telecommunications infrastructure in Nyala, El Genina and El Fasher to determine the needs of the United Nations and NGOs in these cities located to the west of the country near the Chadian border. This conflict-ridden region, which, according to international experts, had since 2003 killed more than 200,000 people and forced more than two million to flee fighting and take refuge in makeshift camps on both sides of the border in Chad and Sudan.

Mitwaba is located in the Katanga region of southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. This initially 4,000-strong village is now home to around 20,000 refugees following the conflict between Mai Mai rebels and the Congo's regular army. In May, the rebels surrendered their arms and improved security conditions, enabling the humanitarian community to support the population and local authorities. As a partner of the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster, TSF was in charge of ensuring the first emergency phase by implementing reliable telecom solutions in shared service and managing the transition for the duration of the emergency.

Following a terrible explosion of the Nyiragongo volcano in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on 17th January 2002, Télécoms sans Frontières was contacted by the Red Cross to support those providing help to the affected populations.

Torrential rains fell on the Aosta Valley, the TSF team, equipped with 16 satellite telephone lines, arrived at the Emergency Command Centre 14 hours after the official announcement of the request for international assistance. First NGO present in the field, the team assesses the damages.