Missions

Cyclone Batsirai made landfall on the east coast of Madagascar on Saturday 5 February, with registered wind gusts of up to 235 km/h. Less than three weeks after, on 22 February, another powerful cyclone, Emnati, hit the same area. Thousands of people have been impacted and displaced.

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

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.

On 11 March 2011 an earthquake measuring 9 on the Richter scale triggered a tsunami in North-East Japan, with 10-metre waves ravaging the coastal areas and causing the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, with the explosion of the reactor of the Fukushima power station. The destruction of infrastructure, the shortage of fuel, and many power cuts to the capital make the situation extremely complex. TSF deployed from its base in Bangkok to provide its emergency communications facilities. The mission drew to a close due to the high risk of the nuclear alert.

Hurricane Ida swept the coasts of Nicaragua and El Salvador in November 2009. At the request of UNDAC, TSF teams traveled to both countries to provide communications to the United Nations assessment teams.

Tens of thousands of people crossed the DRC border into Uganda to flee new clashes between the Nkunda National People's Defense Congress and the Congolese army. In this very tense security environment, many families had been separated. TSF helped these people by allowing them to contact their loved ones again. Nearly 2,000 families received a call in the Matanda and Nakivale camps in Uganda.

Following Hurricane Felix, TSF installed three emergency communication centres for the United Nations and the humanitarian community in the Puerto Cabezas region, in partnership with the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO).

Just after having returned from their mission in Guatemala, TSF Latin America teams are again called upon by Managua's authorities.

As part of their collaboration agreement, TSF's Regional Base for the Americas and the SINAPRED intervened in Cerro Musun, affected by heavy floods and landslides.

With the support of the European Commission (ECHO), TSF mobilised to strengthen coordination and to intervene with the population following the violent earthquake that hit the city of Bam.