Inmarsat-sponsored communications agency Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) has sent a team to Bolivia, where a state of emergency has been declared following heavy flooding.
Telecommunications experts from the charity’s Latin America base were deployed after the Bolivian government called on the United Nations (UN) for help.
TSF is working alongside the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination department to assess the most urgent needs of people living in several affected provinces in northern and central parts of the country.
Floods in Bolivia
It is estimated that continuing torrential rain, floods and mudslides have left over 55,000 families homeless and claimed the lives of at least 30 people.
Aid efforts are focusing on the department of Beni in north-eastern Bolivia. On the ground, TSF’s priority is to provide emergency communications to enable the UN to assess the situation and manage the information coming in.
