Building the Central Asia drought information system in Kyrgyzstan : progress and the way forward : feasibility study

Drought events have intensified and increasingly threaten the sustainable development of Kyrgyzstan, harming the country&rsquo;s agriculture and many other sectors of the economy. High exposure is due to rising temperature peaks, lack of awareness, aging of agricultural and other infrastructure. This comes against a background of shared risks posed by climate change, natural disasters and the persistence of social inequalities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard, the development of a drought monitoring and early warning system appears appropriate. Numerous projects by the UN and other international organizations, as well as government measures to ensure food security and environmental sustainability, are bearing fruit, but their effectiveness could be increased through the introduction of high-tech solutions based on the use of space applications. World practice shows that for disaster monitoring purposes it is optimal to use remote sensing products together with data collected on the Earth&rsquo;s surface. One such solution should be a geographic information system for droughts, which is being developed within the framework of the project &ldquo;Drought Information System for Central Asia, a pilot project&rdquo;, which is being implemented by ESCAP with the financial support of the Russian Federation. The study has two core objectives. Firstly, it aims to review and disseminate the results of a pilot project for the development of competencies of Kyrgyzstan officials and specialists in the field of monitoring drought events achieved in 2018-2022. Secondly, it describes priority areas for further capacity development activities in the field of drought mitigation for 2022-2023 and beyond. The description of priority areas ends with a list of brief recommendations for each topic considered. The recommendations are addressed to all national and international structures interested in reducing the harmful effects of drought on the socio-economic development of Kyrgyzstan. When drawing up recommendations, special attention was paid to their practicability. Open data, including publications of specialized UN agencies, sets of normative documents, quantitative data from statistical portals of Kyrgyzstan and international organizations, was the main source of information for the study. Internal ESCAP research served as an additional source of material, as well as facts and opinions collected at various seminars, conferences, interviews within the UN system and government agencies in the Asia-Pacific region.</p

Community-based assessment of human rights in a complex humanitarian emergency: the Emergency Assistance Teams-Burma and Cyclone Nargis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Cyclone Nargis hit Burma on May 2, 2008, killing over 138,000 and affecting at least 2.4 million people. The Burmese military junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), initially blocked international aid to storm victims, forcing community-based organizations such as the Emergency Assistance Teams-Burma (EAT) to fill the void, helping with cyclone relief and long-term reconstruction. Recognizing the need for independent monitoring of the human rights situation in cyclone-affected areas, particularly given censorship over storm relief coverage, EAT initiated such documentation efforts.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A human rights investigation was conducted to document selected human rights abuses that had initially been reported to volunteers providing relief services in cyclone affected areas. Using participatory research methods and qualitative, semi-structured interviews, EAT volunteers collected 103 testimonies from August 2008 to June 2009; 42 from relief workers and 61 from storm survivors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>One year after the storm, basic necessities such as food, potable water, and shelter remained insufficient for many, a situation exacerbated by lack of support to help rebuild livelihoods and worsening household debt. This precluded many survivors from being able to access healthcare services, which were inadequate even before Cyclone Nargis. Aid efforts continued to be met with government restrictions and harassment, and relief workers continued to face threats and fear of arrest. Abuses, including land confiscation and misappropriation of aid, were reported during reconstruction, and tight government control over communication and information exchange continued.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Basic needs of many cyclone survivors in the Irrawaddy Delta remained unmet over a year following Cyclone Nargis. Official impediments to delivery of aid to storm survivors continued, including human rights abrogations experienced by civilians during reconstruction efforts. Such issues remain unaddressed in official assessments conducted in partnership with the SPDC. Private, community-based relief organizations like EAT are well positioned and able to independently assess human rights conditions in response to complex humanitarian emergencies such as Cyclone Nargis; efforts of this nature must be encouraged, particularly in settings where human rights abuses have been documented and censorship is widespread.</p

UNOSAT Flood Portal

In the UNOSAT flood portal you will find satellite-derived flood data in GIS vector format. The portal includes data for selected flood events occurring since 2007, for which UNOSAT did satellite image analysis. You can find and freely load the flood data into online maps, ArcGIS and other GIS systems, such as Google Earth, to combine with own data or do additional analysis for example in support of disaster risk reduction

2021 Preliminary Satellite derived Floods Assessment: Haiti

This presentation shows satellite imagery of Haiti before and after earthquake August, 2021