Missions

A powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti on Saturday 14 August. TSF deployed a team from its headquarters to provide humanitarian assistance in the affected area.

Within the framework of operational partnerships with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Télécoms Sans Frontières is the go-to organisation for providing technical expertise and training workshops on the application of emergency telecommunications in the humanitarian context.

After the hurricane, the most affected cities of Jérémie and Les Cayes were deprived of contact with the outside world. TSF teams were on hand to provide the essential communications to rescue teams and residents.

TSF organised a capacity building programme to strengthen the humanitarian response system through the optimal use of technologies

The northern suburbs of Bangkok are under water. TSF evacuated its regional base and set up telephony operations in neighborhoods where the network had been affected.

Between August 2010 and February 2011, TSF trained 102 staff members from organisations and humanitarian agencies in Asia and Central and Latin America to improve effective use of telecommunications service in emergency situations.

TSF developed an information system to facilitate pregnant women's access to malaria treatments on the Burmese border.

The heavy rains in the autumn of 2010 caused major floods in southern Thailand and northern Malaysia. A TSF team deployed to the Hat Yai province, where water levels had reached 3m, to assess the state of communications networks. TSF supported relief efforts as well as the local population.

The 2010 earthquake in Haiti is a humanitarian crisis that remains engraved in the memories of people across the globe. With more than 220,000 fatalities, and over 1 million people left without a roof over their heads, relief efforts were titanic. With the support of the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations body (ECHO), TSF provided satellite telecommunications support for the humanitarian response community, including the government and the United Nations, whilst working to provide communications services for thousands of families.

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.

Thanks to the Libreville agreement that put an end to fighting between the Central African army and rebel armed groups, refugees gradually regained their village after two years of absence. TSF supported the rehabilitation project set up by IRC by installing radio links between the capital offices and the bush offices, as well as in vehicles to ensure the safety of humanitarian workers.

TSF supported satellite communications and IT resource centres for humanitarian emergency operations following four hurricanes in Haiti.