This is a slideshow presentation on how geospatial technologies have been used in humanitarian sector.

1. Geospatial Technologies for
humanitarian cause– Saving &
Sustaining lives
1
Baral Suman & Parajuli Janak

2. “
have you ever wondered
2

3. imbalance in geographical distribution
▰ this is to say, some parts of the world are really struggling poverty,
diseases, famine etc. than the other parts
▰ half of the world's extreme poor live in <some place>
▰ high death tolls due to disasters tend to be centered in low-to-middle
income countries
3
Source:http://datatopics.worldbank.org/world-development-indicators/stories/where-do-the-worlds-poorest-people-live-today.html retrieved on 01/11/2019

4. more foods for thought
▰ out of 1288M total population of <some place>more than 50% (676M)
have moderate to severe food insecurity and out of which more than
40% (277M) have severe food insecurity
▰ about 70% of women in some humanitarian crises experience gender-
based violence and around 35% of them experience physical or sexual
violence
4
Source: https://ourworldindata.org/natural-disasters#link-between-poverty-and-deaths-from-natural-disasters retrieved on 30/10/2018

5. in terms of economy
▰ adults with less than $10000 wealth constitute 64% population and hold 2%
of global wealth
▰ rich ones with greater that $0.1M constitute 10% and hold 84% global wealth
▰ the richest 1% own 50% of the global wealth
5
Source:https://inequality.org/facts/global-inequality/ retrieved on 02/11/2019

6. on the other hand
▰ according to UN OCHA (recent tweet), <some place> bears the brunt of
climate change though it contributes the least to greenhouse gas
emissions
▰ in 2018 alone, nearly 12k people lost their lives, 68M affected and
$131.7 billion lost across the world due to more than 300 natural
disaster events (Natural disasters, 2018)
6

7. introducing the concept
Humanitarian Context
as we saw, there is enormous need in saving and sustaining lives on
earth
7
Geospatial Technologies
▰ desktop and mobile GIS
▰ remote sensing
▰ artificial intelligence and deep learning
▰ And so on
and we have a solution

8. 8
cholera outbreak (1854 by John
Snow)
John Snow recommended to eliminate the
handle after analyzing using some mapping
techniques. The local cholera outbreak soon
came to an end after the removal of the pump
handle.
Source: https://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/mapsbroadstreet.html
geospatial technology emerged as
a humanitarian tool
it all started

9. “now, geospatial technologies
can be used to prioritize events,
if not predict accurately.
99

10. 10
ebola outbreak
how maps countered the largest,
most severe and most complex
Ebola epidemic in the histroy
the 109 maps created for
response became the foundation
for many other maps.
in today’s context…
Sources:https://www.ee.co.za/
https://www.worldvision.org/health-news-stories/2014-ebola-virus-outbreak-facts

11. “if we fail to act, the impact will
be felt for years
11

12. 12
Syria conflict
(Wired, 2018)
Small activist-entrepreneur
group has developed a
wireless sensor network
(Sentry) that listens to
warplanes and warns
people as early as 8
minutes when and where
the bombs are going to fall
through tracking and
providing the locations
aftermath.
Source: https://www.wired.com/story/syria-civil-war-hala-sentry/
In today’s context…
Image source: https://www.aljazeera.com/

13. “now, geospatial technologies are
not just the tools but the voice of
the unheard, unable and un-aided
people.
1313

14. example in humanitarian assistance
UN-OCHA uses GIS to provide humanitarian assistance to
people in need for:
▰ camp management
▰ early recovery and reconstruction
▰ emergency shelter
▰ health and education
▰ IT and communications
▰ nutrition, water and sanitation
14
(Source: ESRI, 2019)

15. Source: https://globalfistulamap.org/
15
Global Fistula Map
UNWFPA, Direct Relief and
The Fistula Foundation’s effort
on supporting pregnancy injury
(Obstetric fistula) having
access to life-restoring surgical
treatment
Apart from savings,
the tool has been
an integral part in
sustaining the
human life

16. in short
16
The appropriate geospatial toolset through
innovative and creative mindset must address the
ongoing humanitarian crisis caused by conflicts
and natural disasters
There is problem somewhere and its solution
elsewhere. The need is to match them for the sake
of humanity

17. out of the context
17
but wait… we are rebuilding

18. have your say
18

19. 19

20. 20
VIDEO