Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) is training humanitarian workers in Latin America on emergency communications systems.
The training week will give participants the necessary know-how to deploy fast and reliable internet and phone connections in a crisis.
Twenty-five employees from humanitarian aid organisations in Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Venezuela and Peru are attending this week's sessions.
“TSF is committed to sharing its expertise as a telecommunications specialist NGO with humanitarian workers, not only to enhance their ability to deploy telecommunications equipment on the ground but also to pass on the skills acquired to their organisation and their local partners,” said TSF spokesman Laure Crampé.
The training in Managua, Nicaragua, follows sessions in Bangkok, Thailand, in March.
The final training week in the TSF capacity-building programme will start on 20 May in Dakar, Senegal.
“This quite unprecedented event in Africa is extremely important for a continent that suffers from multiple humanitarian crises and from the lack of a reliable network of communications necessary to deal with possible emergencies,” said Laure.
The training programme is funded by the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO).
