Corporate
Every year, the Inmarsat-sponsored non-governmental organisation (NGO), Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) – the world’s first non-governmental NGO focused on emergency-response communication technologies – provides details about its incredible work around the world in its annual report, to provide insight into the vital help it provides. Last year, TSF helped 350,000+ beneficiaries, in 10 countries, across four continents.
With the world facing an unprecedented global challenge in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, travel was limited, huge strains were placed on healthcare systems and economies were put under enormous pressure, which meant that the most vulnerable people in the world faced greater difficulties than ever.
Although 2020 might be behind us, the world is still struggling to cope with the pandemic and is facing another challenging year ahead.
"We are all aware that the consequences of the pandemic will last for several more months. Restrictions and protection measures will still have a significant impact on humanitarian response. However, at TSF this is not a reason to stand still. On the contrary, it’s one reason more to work relentlessly to harness the potential of technologies and telecommunications to remain close to and protect those who need it most, even more in this moment."
Here, we provide some insight into TSF’s 2020 missions:
In April 2020, TSF deployed the first IsatPhone 2 satellite phones to the National Institute for Disaster Management (INGC) in Mozambique, to help the coordination of the country’s response to COVID-19, and also provided remote technical support to use the phones. These resources were essential to help support the operations of INGC field teams in remote areas with no connection.
In November 2020, TSF worked with the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) to respond to the needs for emergency communications, after the category 5 hurricane named “Eta” hit the coast of Nicaragua. The hurricane then moved north, causing extensive flooding in Honduras.
Just two weeks later, the same area was hit by the equally powerful hurricane “Iota”. The consequences of these natural disasters meant that more than 1.6 million people in Honduras were affected and 50,000 people needed to be evacuated to emergency shelters.
TSF responded by setting up four Inmarsat satellite communications lines for affected people, under the “Restoring Family Links” programme, and two more to aid evacuation operations. Training sessions were also set up with the Honduran Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), so that they could learn how to use the satellite equipment.
The TSF team also installed Wi-Fi access points for those moved to emergency shelters, so that they could contact their relatives, and stay safe by finding updates on hurricane Iota’s path and obtaining official advice.
Inmarsat’s IsatPhones have been providing lifesaving connections for the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisatons’ (UOSSM) medical teams in Syria since 2012, when TSF first started providing support for the country.
In 2020, TSF’s satellite connections were more important than ever to enable the UOSMM to maintain remote healthcare assistance and share information about the pandemic. In the centres connected by TSF, UOSMM provided medical care for more than 260,000 patients.
Last year, we celebrated 20 years of working in partnership with TSF, helping the NGO to support over 20 million people and connect nearly 1,000 NGOs around the world with the power of satellite connectivity as they have struggled through humanitarian crises.
Inmarsat provides satellite communications equipment and airtime to TSF to ensure connectivity links are set up as soon as possible in the wake of humanitarian incident, and in 2019, we also began to offer pro-bono legal services to the organisation.
You can read the full TSF annual report here.
