ITU sends vital communications equipment to Uganda following deadly mudslides

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Thuraya satellite phones will help coordinate rescue and relief work

Geneva, 8 March 2010

— ITU has responded with emergency communications aid, following mudslides on the slopes of Mount Elgon, eastern Uganda, which destroyed villages near the town of Bududa. The disaster has left hundreds of people dead or missing, and many more are homeless.

ITU has deployed 20 Thuraya satellite terminals to the area, providing essential phone links that are vital to the search and rescue efforts. The equipment, which was dispatched from ITU’s headquarters in Geneva on 3 March, will also be used to coordinate the logistics of relief work.

"Yet again, a natural disaster has swept away lives and livelihoods. But in Uganda, and around the globe, ITU will always do its best to help those who need emergency telecommunications, in partnership with our membership," said ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré.

The series of mudslides began on 1 March, following days of heavy rain. Now, homes are buried under metres of earth and rocks. In one case, dozens of children who took shelter in a clinic are feared dead.

"I learnt with deep sorrow the loss of life resulting from a massive landslide that swept the slopes of Mt Elgon in eastern Uganda," commented Sami Al Basheer Al Morshid, Director of ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau. "This equipment has been dispatched with much urgency to assist in search and rescue operations and coordinating logistics on the ground," he added.

The terminals sent to Uganda were supplied under a partnership agreement concluded in 2006 between ITU and Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company, which is based in the United Arab Emirates. They are solar-powered handheld devices that support voice and data applications, as well as remote navigation services via GPS.

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