In
an ongoing effort to improve the quality and efficiency
of UN humanitarian aid relief operations worldwide,
Swedish communications company Ericsson donated
a telecommunications "switch" to the
UN logistics base in Brindisi, Italy, to be operational
by June 2002. The announcement was made this morning,
after a year and a half of negotiations, when Kenzo
Oshima, Under Secretary General for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs, signed an agreement with
Ulf Persson, President of Public Affairs for Ericsson.
The
report detailed the scope and toll of the problem of
child "Communications play an indispensable part
in humanitarian relief activities, but systems used
by different relief agencies during disasters and emergencies
vary widely in quality and often suffer compatibility
problems," Mr. Oshima said. " We very much
appreciate the private sector for taking a responsible
interest in humanitarian affairs and for sharing their
technologies and expertise with the humanitarian community
in such a generous manner."
The donation encompasses network equipment,
both hardware and software, and handsets. In
addition, installation, testing, training and
remote support for a period of two years following
the system launch. According to French, the total
cost of the donation is confidential.
"The switch is the intelligent part of
a mobile network," said Michelle French,
a public affairs associate at Ericsson. "It
will enhance the mobile communications systems
used by the United Nations as well as augment
their ability to react in times of disaster."
This is not the first that Ericsson has partnered
up with the United Nations. The company provided
mobile communication to refugee camps during
the Kosovo crisis, reinstalled damaged telecom
equipment and provided tents to earthquake victims
in Turkey, as well as phones to flood victims
in Vietnam.
"Through communications aid, expertise
and our position as a global company, we can
support faster and more coordinated approaches
to disaster response efforts," said French.
This recent donation falls under Ericsson's
Response program, which is designed to be an
outreach program for people in need. The company
has worked directly with the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP), the Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC). According to French, the program has
been in effect only for a few years, but has
had many successes.
French cited Ericsson's involvement following
the June earthquake that led to disaster in Peru
as an example of the program's success. The political
and economic instability in Peru added to the
enormity of the recovery effort. Ericsson reacted
to this event by supplying mobile phones to the
Red Cross and footing the bill for the calls,
according to French.
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