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TMCNet: ITU sends vital communications equipment to Uganda following deadly mudslides

[March 09, 2010]

ITU sends vital communications equipment to Uganda following deadly mudslides

(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Geneva -- ITU has responded with emergency communications aid, following mudslides on the slopes of Mount Elgon, eastern Uganda, which destroyed villages near the town of Bududa. The disaster has left hundreds of people dead or missing, and many more are homeless.

ITU has deployed 20 Thuraya satellite terminals to the area, providing essential phone links that are vital to the search and rescue efforts. The equipment, which was despatched from ITU's headquarters in Geneva on 3 March, will also be used to coordinate the logistics of relief work.

"Yet again, a natural disaster has swept away lives and livelihoods. But in Uganda, and around the globe, ITU will always do its best to help those who need emergency telecommunications, in partnership with our membership," said ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Toure.

The series of mudslides began on 1 March, following days of heavy rain. Now, homes are buried under metres of earth and rocks. In one case, dozens of children who took shelter in a clinic are feared dead.

"I learnt with deep sorrow the loss of life resulting from a massive landslide that swept the slopes of Mt Elgon in eastern Uganda," commented Sami Al Basheer Al Morshid, Director of ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau. "This equipment has been dispatched with much urgency to assist in search and rescue operations and coordinating logistics on the ground," he added.

The terminals sent to Uganda were supplied under a partnership agreement concluded in 2006 between ITU and Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company, which is based in the United Arab Emirates. They are solar-powered handheld devices that support voice and data applications, as well as remote navigation services via GPS.

About ITU ITU is the leading United Nations agency for information and communication technology issues, and the global focal point for governments and the private sector in developing networks and services. For 145 years, ITU has coordinated the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promoted international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, worked to improve telecommunication infrastructure in the developing world, established the worldwide standards that foster seamless interconnection of a vast range of communications systems and addressed the global challenges of our times, such as mitigating the impact of natural disasters and climate change and strengthening cybersecurity.

ITU also organizes worldwide and regional exhibitions and forums, such as ITU TELECOM WORLD, bringing together the most influential representatives of government and the telecommunications and ICT industry to exchange ideas, knowledge and technology for the benefit of the global community, and in particular the developing world.

From broadband Internet to latest-generation wireless technologies, from aeronautical and maritime navigation to radio astronomy and satellite-based meteorology, from convergence in fixed-mobile phone, Internet access, data, voice and TV broadcasting to next-generation networks, ITU is committed to connecting the world.

Visit our Web site at http://www.itu.int/newsroom ((Comments on this story may be sent to info@m2.com)) (c) 2010 M2 COMMUNICATIONS

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