For more than a year on the Mali borders, TSF has been reinforcing the coordination among the humanitarian actors working with Malian refugees.
In the Sahel region, the security conditions have significantly deteriorated in March 2012 with the massive arrival in Mali neighboring countries of refugees fleeing the fighting between the Tuareg rebels and the regular army. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) there are more than 174,000 refugees in the neighbouring countries.
According to the World Food Program (WFP), since August 2012, humanitarian support is the main means of survival for most of the Sahel people. In order to reinforce the assistance to vulnerable populations, TSF is providing reliable and rapid satellite communications for a better coordination of the organisations in the field.
Given the extremely complex security context in the Sahel region, TSF is using both fixed and mobile satellite equipment to connect its humanitarian Hubs and the teams during their trips.
TSF IN NIGER
• Abala refugee camp, 400 km from Gao:
On 24th April 2012, TSF installed a Vsat satellite antenna in the coordination offices of ACTED and UNHCR within the Abala camp which is now hosting more than 14,300 refugees. The humanitarian hub offers a secured Wifi connection to the 30 humanitarian workers who come daily to connect: MSF Switzerland, MSF France, CARE International, Islamic Relief, CADEV, HELP, VSF Belgium, ACTED and UNHCR…
The 135 Gb exchanged from the TSF humanitarian hub allow a more efficient daily management of the information and a coordinated response of all the actors in the area.
Stories:
Camp Manager Assistant/ACTED: With the problem encountered on the local network, without TSF it would have been impossible to communicate our reports with the office in Niamey and the partners. Thanks to the action of TSF, the constant communication is ensured, as well as the quality of the coordination.
Head of Communication and Information/ACTED: The TSF connection in the Abala camp is an essential support for the development and the implementation of our project, notably in a region where telecommunication is underdeveloped. The connection is also important for all the agencies working in the area! It is indeed the unique mean of communication when the GSM network is unavailable. The cuts can last for two days.
• Banibangou refugee camp:
Between 13th June and 17 September 2012, the Vsat satellite antenna installed by TSF within the offices of CARE International supported the actions of the NGOs VSF, Oxfam, Karkara, Banibangou city hall and prefecture and the RFI Hausa radio. In this locality situated only few kilometers from the Mali border has been facing for several months the massive arrival of refugees fleeing violence in Mali. This rise in population put additional pressure on already insufficient food resources in the region.
Humanitarian workers used the TSF connection to assess and monitor the evolution of critical living conditions among refugees. The telecom services offered by TSF enabled them to collect quality and reliable data for a rapid decision making and an appropriate response.
• Tillia region:
Between 10th July and 6th November 2012, TSF provided a Bgan satellite terminal and a Wifi router to Action Contre la Faim Espagne (ACF-E) for its activities against malnutrition and food insecurity. The TSF satellite connection allowed ACF-E to implement, in collaboration with the Hed Tamat NGO, emergency humanitarian help mechanisms, notably for access to potable water and sanitation facilities.
The permanent insecurity in this region close to the Mali border is a major constraint to emergency aid deliveries in the affected areas. TSF satellite equipment enabled ACF-E teams to keep in contact with their headquarters during assessment missions of food situation and prevalence of malnutrition in the area. To date, more than 145 Gb have been used for these emergency communications.
In the region of Tillia, the situation has often been critical. It was essential to reinforce the resilience of Malian refugee populations to face their precarious living conditions. Most of the refugees were coming from pastoral and rural regions of Mali, and were waiting to come back so as to start the harvest before the rainy season and care for their flocks which are their unique mean of livelihood. The intense fighting in Mali prevented these populations from leaving Niger, where their survival only depended on humanitarian aid.
• North Dakoro:
Between 5th June and 28 September 2012, the Bgan and Isatphone Pro satellite connections as well as the laptops provided by TSF to Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Belgium, allowed mobile teams to maintain communication with their headquarters during long lasting missions in isolated and often dangerous areas.
The vital data collected on the food situation in the remote villages were thus rapidly transferred and analysed for the setting up of more efficient nutritional interventions. More than 103 Gb have been exchanged between these teams and their headquarters. The satellite phone enabled them to make more than 17 hours of priority calls.
TSF IN BURKINA FASO
• Gorom-Gorom refugee camp, 200km from Gao:
The installation by TSF of the Vsat satellite connection on 11th July 2012 within the offices of Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Belgium (VSF-B) in Gorom-Gorom, north-eastern Burkina Faso, enabled the NGOs and United Nations agencies working in the area to exchange 55 Gb of data.
The connection is benefitting to VSF-B, A2N, UNHCR, Red Cross, Save the Children, HELP, AEC, TASSATH, Afrique Verte and AGED. The DPASSN and the Discrict Direction of Health also regularly use the humanitarian hub.
Before the intervention of TSF, the organisations in the area were forced to cover every week the 57 km separating Gorom-Gorom from Dori, the departmental capital, to find a good Internet access. Since then, the TSF connection supports the implementation of emergency activities which notably increased since May 2012, and facilitates the communication between the field and the central services at national and international levels.
• Djibo refugee camp, 330km from Tombouctou:
Between 19th July 2012 and 20 March 2013, the TSF satellite connection in the offices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reinforced the actions of all the NGOs in the area with refugees in the camps north of Djibo, where more than 15,000 people were living. 79 Gb of data have been exchanged.
Before the intervention of TSF in the region of Gorom-Gorom, few kilometers from the Mali border, the mobile network was operational but the Internet access was only possible through Edge network or 3G keys, thus the connection was very slow and not reliable at all.
The precarious security conditions are making emergency humanitarian intervention even more difficult and jeopardizing vulnerable populations’ survival. TSF satellite communications allow a better coordination of field teams and thus reinforce their actions with Sahel people.