Ericsson Response winds up Haiti operation

The United Nations has paid tribute to Ericsson Response volunteers in Haiti as they recently wound up operations in the country – six months after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake devastated parts of the country.

In one of his final trips as the United Nations’ Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Sir John Holmes, visited Haiti to view work carried out by Ericsson Response and other relief and aid agencies.

He said: “Nothing is more important than good, rapid communications at the beginning of a disaster. The GSM network built up for humanitarian efforts in Haiti enabled aid workers to work more efficiently and to provide desperately needed support for suffering people.”

Rima Qureshi and Sir John Holmes

Ericsson Response’s operation in Haiti was the biggest in the 10-year history of the organization, with 18 volunteers working in shifts since the United Nations requested assistance following the January 12 disaster.

The aid network covered 40 sq km and facilitated about 3000 calls daily. The network area included many downtown areas of capital Port-au-Prince and the United Nations’ logistics base, Camp Charlie, where many aid workers stayed. United Nations employees were also equipped with mobile phones donated by Sony Ericsson and Ericsson Response SIM cards configured with ‘white pages’ and call lists for free of charge inbound calls through Ericsson´s GSM system.

Holmes said: “Easy access to each other via the mobile network has made our work faster and more efficient, in turn helping us address emergency needs with better results."

Rima Qureshi, Vice President of Ericsson Response, says: “Helping the people of Haiti is most important. We’ve been here to do what we are good at, which is providing communications. By ensuring the basic human need of communicating, we’re strengthening our partners within the United Nations to do what they are good at: helping Haiti get back on its feet.”

Ericsson Response has provided staff and mobile communication systems for humanitarian crises in many countries including Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Panama, Sudan and the US.