UK, 9 May - Hamish Pritchard has been a MapAction Volunteer since 2006.With a Master’s in ‘remote sensing’ Hamish works fulltime for the British Antarctic Survey undertaking seasons in Antarctica and working from Cambridge for the rest of the time. Hamish underwent a rigorous assessment process before being accepted as a MapAction volunteer. This was followed by training in the organisation’s approach, services and procedures as well as in technical geographical information systems (GIS) training some of which was new to Hamish. Security and first aid training is also a core element of preparation for deployment.

Volunteers are expected to be self-supporting, capable of setting up the MapAction ‘office’ anywhere under any conditions and able to deliver high quality mapping and information services when under stress. Here Hamish talks about his experience with MapAction and reflects on his Haiti 2010 deployment.

“I first heard about MapAction at around the time it started, from a friend at college. It sounded like it could be an interesting use of my skills, so I was keen to find out more. The more I found out, the more I liked the sound of the organisation and its work. MapAction presented an opportunity to be ‘hands on’, making a real difference in crisis situations.

“My initial training was a steep but enjoyable learning curve, and training is on going. What is exciting about MapAction is that groups of MapAction volunteers develop new mapping techniques and software programmes which add value to what we can offer in the field and share with other organisations.

“In a typical year I give up one weekend or one full day every other month, which adds up to at least 18 days of training every year in addition to the time which might be spent on deployment.

“The alert about the high magnitude Haiti earthquake came through at about 10pm. It appeared on my mobile phone as a text alert labelled ‘active’, which meant that MapAction had already decided to send a team. I replied to say I was available. When I checked my phone again in the early hours there was a message to say that I was on the team and we would be deployed that day.

“It was a rush to get packed and sorted, and to clear two weeks’ leave with work.  I got a taxi direct to Gatwick where I met the other team members, who’d picked up the equipment we needed from MapAction HQ in Buckinghamshire. On the plane, chartered by the UK Government’s Department for International Development,  (DFID), the atmosphere was charged.

“The situation in Haiti touched people all over the world. Many large public buildings such as universities, schools, hotels and shops had collapsed. The civil ‘heart’ of the city had been literally ripped out. Many people were trapped under rubble and injured or dying. It was going to be a huge challenge to help people. “On arrival, we joined the UN Disaster Assessment and Co-ordination team (UNDAC). Our task was to provide crucial mapping to assist their work. The UN assigned different teams to different areas, so our first task was to create a map marking out sectors of the city. We then created smaller maps for individual search and rescue teams. Street signs and many landmarks were destroyed, so we gave them GPS co-ordinates instead.

“Some people who were trapped had phoned and texted relatives and friends, sometimes abroad. The UN set up a website where people could contact the rescuers. When we had reliable information backed by GPS co-ordinates, we could pass this to nearby search and rescue teams.

“During my deployment we were in a camp at the airport. The work was pressured and unrelenting. We slept on camp beds and lived on military rations. There were showers, but to be honest that was not the priority. We were there for one reason – to help to save lives.

“When we handed over to the next MapAction team, we were exhausted. The whole experience had been so intense, the adrenaline was constantly going – but ultimately it was rewarding. I felt that I had done something important.”

UK, 9 May - Last year, CSR’s UK employees voted MapAction their “Charity of the Year” for 2012. This year, despite not taking the majority of votes required to retain this title, CSR’s Social Responsibility committee decided to make a special donation to MapAction – an amount totalling £3,160 based on a “runner-up” donation of £2,500 plus £10 for each of the 66 employee votes cast.

Presenting a cheque for £3,160 to MapAction volunteer Nick McWilliam [pictured left] outside CSR’s Churchill House headquarters in Cambridge last week, Will Gardiner [centre], Chief Financial Officer of CSR said, “Once again CSR is pleased to support the humanitarian services provided by MapAction – aid that saves many lives. This unique charity works in disaster zones providing frequently updated situation maps showing where relief help is most urgently needed.” CSR engineer Azadeh Ebrahimi [right] represented the company’s Social Responsibility committee.

Since 2002, MapAction volunteers have responded to 39 humanitarian emergencies worldwide, including earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and tsunamis. Recently returned home to Cambridge from deployment supporting the Syria response, Nick McWilliam has been with MapAction since it started 10 years ago. Nick has previously been deployed to emergencies in Japan, South Sudan, Niger, and Pakistan.

Commenting on CSR’s gesture, Liz Hughes, Chief Executive at MapAction said, “MapAction volunteers are on standby 24/7 to respond to any humanitarian emergency anywhere in the world.  It is wonderful to have the support from CSR for a second year. It goes a long way in ensuring we can be deployment ready. MapAction supports humanitarian partners in saving lives and minimising suffering when a disaster strikes. Through our relationship CSR employees are also helping reach men, women and children in urgent need.”

Are you skilled in programming? OpenStreetMap?

GIS? Data Management or Technical Writing?

We invite you to work together towards ensuring disaster preparedness and relief…

MapAction and the AGI (Association for Geographic Information) are holding a 1-day Hackathon in the Astun Technology offices in Epsom, Surrey on Saturday 27^th April from 9am onwards with kick-off at 10am.  

Be part of the action by providing your valuable skills in support of the ongoing work of MapAction.   Network among peers in the industry whilst working together to combat some of the challenges faced by our teams in the field.  Be part of change to better equip teams around the world in advance of a disaster.

We need your help. Please register now!

If you have skills and experience in OpenStreetMap, GIS (specifially QGIS and/or ArcGIS Desktop), Data Management or Web Mapping these would be especially useful. More details and an agenda will be provided in the coming weeks.

MapAction works in disaster zones providing frequently updated situation maps.  This information is vital showing where relief help is most urgently needed.  MapAction relies on the skills of volunteers to help make a difference in areas which have been affected by disaster.

For further information on this event, or the work of MapAction please visit www.mapaction.org. Alternatively please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

MapAction are grateful to Astun Technology for providing the venue for this event.

UK, 1 Feb – MapAction is appealing to its supporters to make a donation to enable the charity to continue its commitment to help those affected by the Syria crisis. Since December 2012, MapAction has had six volunteers working in the region to help to map the needs of affected communities and coordinate humanitarian efforts. The resulting situational analysis has contributed to securing pledges for more than $1.5 billion at a recent conference of international donors in Kuwait. Before Wednesday’s conference, donors had given only nine per cent of the amount sought.

Valerie Amos, the UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, highlighted at the conference the latest figures on the affected population in northern Syria, referring directly to the evidence from the J-RANS inter-agency rapid assessment in northern Syria, to which MapAction was a key contributor. Our mapped information helped to provide evidence that the numbers in need in the north alone may be as high as 3.2m, a significant increase on previous estimates which was less than this for the whole country. Valerie Amos commented: “Up to three million people are having trouble getting food. Bakeries have been destroyed or cannot get fuel, so bread is in short supply. Cereal, fruit and vegetable production has dropped by half in some areas.

Twenty-five per cent of schools are no longer in use because they have been destroyed or have been turned into communal shelters. Thousands of children are unable to go to school.

The needs are huge. The UN estimates that four million people need urgent humanitarian assistance, including two million who have fled their homes and are now living without the most basic services: without clean water, sanitation facilities and electricity.

Alongside the situational analysis of affected communities in the north, MapAction has also had volunteers working from Beirut on the Syria Needs Analysis Project (SNAP) in partnership with the Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS). Its mapped information is providing valuable, independent analysis of the overall humanitarian situation, within Syria and neighbouring countries.

MapAction has already committed to deploying further volunteers to the region to assist with the ongoing coordination of humanitarian efforts. The charity anticipates its involvement will continue for many months to come, which will stretch its limited resources and has led to this appeal for funding.

It costs approximately £4,500 to deploy a team of two skilled volunteers to the region for a two-week period, including flights, accommodation and subsistence. As demonstrated at the recent international donor conference, the impact of their work makes an important contribution to key decisions about the delivery of humanitarian aid. Please give what you can.

The Syria Crisis Appeal will be directly channelled into MapAction’s humanitarian mapping service for the Syria Crisis. In the unlikely event that the charity raises more money than can be reasonably spent, any surplus funds will be channelled into the charity’s Rapid Response Fund - a designated fund that supports the direct costs of deploying skilled volunteers to humanitarian emergencies anywhere in the world.

Yaounde, 22 Jan – MapAction has deployed two volunteers to Yaounde, Cameroon, at the request of UNICEF to support with the response to the ongoing violence and insecurity in the Central African Republic (CAR).

Since 10 December 2012, a coalition of rebel groups in CAR (the “Seleka” coalition) has taken control of a number of towns across the country, stopping just short of the capital, Bangui. The on-going insecurity is taking a toll on close to 1.5 million people (some 33% of the total population of CAR), comprising approximately 800,000 people who reside in rebel-controlled zones and 700,000 in Bangui.

Rebels took over key mining areas in the country, destroyed hundreds of homes, and displaced thousands of civilians. Reports have claimed that the rebels have forcibly recruited children to fight and serve as porters and sex slaves.

A peace agreement was signed between the CAR government and rebel groups on 11 January, however, tens of thousands of people are thought to have stayed away from their homes due to ongoing insecurity. Many shops, markets and schools remain closed, with some medical clinics running out of supplies.

CAR is a landlocked nation, bordered by Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo. MapAction’s volunteers will initially be based in neighbouring Cameroon.

MapAction has worked in several other countries of west Africa in the recent past, including response to the post-election violence in the Ivory Coast in 2011, and supporting conflict resolution programmes in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2012.