UN & ASEAN emergency response training

Founded in 1967, the Association of South-East Asian Nations (more commonly referred to as ASEAN) is a political and economic organisation whose aim is to promote economic growth and regional stability amongst its 10 nation members. Within the framework of the intra-nation co-operation, member states work alongside the United Nations to strengthen humanitarian assistance and boost disaster relief.

As a partner of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), TSF was recently invited to participate in providing training for the ASEAN's Humanitarian Assistance (AHA) Emergency Response and Assessment teams in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The week-long session focused on all aspects of emergency response - from the moment the disaster alert is received, to organisations' withdrawal from the affected country. One of the key elements of the AHA's emergency response is their Joint Operations and Coordination Centres from which their operations are conducted. Connectivity forms the backbone of these centres and TSF's role was to train the members in how to set up emergency connections and peripheral networks using satellite communications technology.

TSF provided comprehensive training sessions to 32 ASEAN and United Nations members representing the 10 ASEAN member states in the use of both BGANs and IsatPhones and the ways in which this satellite equipment can be leveraged to provide reliable and enhanced emergency Wi-Fi connectivity. The skills acquired were then consolidated at the end of the week-long session during a 2-day simulation exercise.