In conjunction with the Third International Conference on Financing for Development currently taking place in Addis Ababa, Minister for Cooperation and Humanitarian Action, Romain Schneider, signed a partnership agreement yesterday with Director General of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Lacy Swing, for the project 'emergency.lu'.
This agreement will allow IOM to request to the Directorate for Cooperation and Humanitarian Action the deployment of satellite-based telecommunication systems from the 'emergency' project and volunteers from Luxembourg Civil Protection who would be specially trained in the installation of this equipment. These deployments will aim to restore or establish an internet connection and other communications services following a natural disaster or in remote locations with no local infrastructure. The 'emergency.lu' project systems will allow IOM staff on the ground to communicate with their headquarters in Geneva and with their families, improve the safety and working conditions of IOM staff and strengthen the coordination of efforts and effectiveness of humanitarian response in the region concerned.
The agreement will also allow IOM to ask the Ministry for technical support from private partners SES Techcom Services and Hitec Luxembourg for the development of new applications, particularly in the field of mapping, data collection and management of information.
The Luxembourg government signed similar agreements in the period 2012 to 2014 with the World Food Programme, the Office of the High Commissioner of the United Nations for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
'emergency.lu' is a public-private partnership between the Luxembourg Government and three Luxembourg companies (SES Techcom Services, Hitec and Luxembourg Luxembourg Air Ambulance) who developed the project and have been running it since January 2012. 'emergency.lu' is a global public good which the Luxembourg Government has provided to the humanitarian community and is primarily deployed at the request of the World Food Programme, in its role as leader of the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC).
Photo by Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (L-R: Romain Schneider, Minister of Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid ; Lacy Swing, Director General of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM))
