Inmarsat
Aid agency extends lifeline to Niger's migrant workers
Hundreds of migrants from Niger, who are forced to
work abroad each year to support their families, are
keeping in touch with home using Inmarsat satellite
phones provided by its aid agency.
The annual exodus of agricultural workers, mainly to
the neighbouring sub-Saharan states, happens during
the dry season between January and May, when there is
no other way to earn an income.
After the famine of 2005, more workers have emigrated
this year to try to protect their families from starvation.
Those left behind, often in isolated regions with no
methods of communication, generally have no contact
with them for months on end.
Now, Inmarsat-sponsored aid has launched a humanitarian
phoning operation in the Dakoro district of Niger, allowing
the families of every exile to make regular calls and
contact them immediately in the case of an emergency.
Since it began at the beginning of March, more than
100 families have already called a relative in a neighbouring
country.
Inmarsat is using GSM and Inmarsat mini-M phones, depending
on the area and coverage. They provide a lifeline for
vulnerable people entirely dependent on the exiles for
money to buy food and who otherwise would be forced
to trek for hours to the nearest town to make an emergency
phone call, if they could afford it.
Inmarsat also plans to use Inmarsat R-BGAN technology
to reinforce the government's food crisis early warning
system (EWS) and help prevent a crisis like the 2005
famine happening again.
Delays in getting information from the capital Naimey
to isolated areas aggravated last year's food shortages,
so the government plans to install a radio transmission
system in targeted areas.
Until it is up and running, Inmarsat will use R-BGAN
terminals and computers to collate vital information,
including:
· The state of the cereals and animal markets
· Variations in food stock supplies area by
area
· Changes in the population's food needs
· Establishment of sanitation and nutrition
programmes.
An Inmarsat aid spokesman said: "The purpose is
primarily to act swiftly to limit the damage caused
by food shortages in order that a crisis with the impact
of that in 2005 does not happen again."
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Archives: (2005 ) / (2006)
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