By Lauren Woodman, CEO, NetHopeIt was September 2014, and NetHope had been hearing from our member NGOs working in West Africa about the desperate need for improved connectivity in the rural districts of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. The Ebola outbreak was ravaging the region, and the lack of connectivity in hard-hit areas was making … Continued
Damage around Palu, Indonesia. Photo courtesy DoGoodFilms.By Brent Carbno, Managing Director, Global Programs for NetHopeWhen the news broke on September 28 that a magnitude 7.5 earthquake and subsequent tsunami had leveled villages on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, I immediately contacted our field connectivity team and others to learn about the impacts of this double … Continued
Photo credit: Shutterstock.comUPDATE: 2018.10.05 As of today, the NetHope team is in Jakarta and have obtained more information from local teams active in the affected areas. While there are still issues with power, the mobile networks have started to recover rapidly and are providing some connectivity in urban areas. While we wait for more detailed recovery … Continued
Conflict-affected youth in Lebanon interacting with and testing Hakeem chatbot in September 2018 (Photo credit: NRC)This month, governments, humanitarian organizations, the private sector, and civil society are convening in New York City for the 73rd United Nations General Assembly. One of the pressing topics on the agenda is how to accelerate and expand efforts to deliver education … Continued
Anniversary of last year’s hurricane heightens preparedness for 2018The effects of last year’s hurricanes are still reverberating throughout the Caribbean and Gulf Coast region. The roll call of the devastation was sobering but was a clarion call for NetHope and its members and partners to increase our collective efforts to be prepared for the coming … Continued
By Marena Brinkhurst, Community Team Program Manager, Mapbox, and John Crowley, Director of Information Management and Crisis Informatics, NetHopeAs humanitarian operations have become more complex, they require ever more powerful tools to coordinate dozens, hundreds, and sometimes thousands of NGOs and government agencies on the core mission: helping people in need. Information can make or … Continued
Above: NetHope’s Frank Schott, standing next to President Clinton, at the recent Clinton Global Initiative event.“Preparation through education is less costly than learning through tragedy.” – Max Mayfield, former Director of the National Hurricane CenterBy Frank Schott, Managing Director of New Program DevelopmentAlmost one year ago today, Hurricane Irma smashed into the leeward Caribbean Islands … Continued
Above: Rami Shakra (far right), NetHope’s Global Programs Director, Field Operations visits with a beneficiary family in Greece.NetHope and its network of 57 global nonprofit members and more than 60 tech partners respond to dire humanitarian crises around the world. During this year’s World Humanitarian Day (August 19), we continue to recognize the millions of … Continued
Gisli Olafsson (standing to right) is a Humanitarian Advisor at NetHope and has been responding to disasters for the past 25 years. He is the main designer behind the NetHope Disaster Preparedness Training simulation held in Panama July 18-28. Below is an interview where he explains his process for designing the simulation and the expectations … Continued
This is part of a series of posts occurring through the end of July as we track NetHope’s Disaster Preparedness Training occurring in Panama. Read the Pre-Training post here.So much of what the public hears about the big tech companies often focuses on the intense rivalries among them.But during NetHope’s Disaster Preparedness Training, taking place now in Panama, … Continued