IASC Weekly (NY) - on Social Media
New York
1. Humanity Road: Virtual Volunteers in Humanitarian Crises
Chris Thompson, President and one of the founders of Humanity Road, and Robert Enholm, board of directors of Humanity Road and Executive Vice President of Citizens for Global Solutions, will present the activities of Humanity Road. In particular the presentation will focus on the use of internet, communications and mapping technologies for disaster preparedness and the use of social media by volunteers to support response to humanitarian crises.
Humanity Road trains volunteers around the world to use internet, communications and mapping technologies in order to gather, organize and share information needed in humanitarian disasters. This information is used and valued by people in the zone of a crisis as well as first responders and humanitarian response organizations. Humanity Road also collaborates with other organizations to establish protocols and techniques for maximizing the reliability and interoperability of data and communications.
The Humanity Road platform was first applied on large scale following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and since then Humanity Road “virtual volunteers” have worked on humanitarian crises ranging from the ongoing problems in Libya, to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, to the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, to the recent tornadoes in the American Southeast.
2. Supporting Governments in Emergency Response and Disaster Preparedness: Lessons learned from Latin America and the Caribbean
Gerard Gomez, Head of the OCHA Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, will elaborate on how the Regional Office supports response preparedness efforts in various countries in the region, and on the tools and mechanisms through which the UN supports Governments in the areas for disaster preparedness and response. Gerard's presentation will draw on lessons learned from the Haiti and Chile earthquakes in 2010.