Emergency.lu, a public-private partnership with the government of Luxembourg, uses SES dedicated capacity to restore communications during disasters. Photo Credit: SES

SES and Hispasat, along with other members of the satellite community, have signed a contribution agreement with the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), on behalf of the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC), stepping up its commitment to support global disaster relief.

The contribution agreements are an important step in operationalizing the Crisis Connectivity Charter signed in 2015 between the EMEA Satellite Operators Association (ESOA), Global VSAT Forum (GVF), UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA) and ETC. The Crisis Connectivity Charter, signed by Arabsat, Eutelsat, Global Eagle, Hispasat, Inmarsat, Intelsat, SES, Thuraya and Yahsat, seeks to help the humanitarian response community by improving its access to vital satellite-based communications when local networks are affected, destroyed or overloaded after a disaster.

Under the contribution agreements, the charter signatories are committing satellite equipment and capacity to be dedicated for humanitarian purposes during emergency responses. The ETC, under the leadership of WFP, will be able to activate the charter when disaster strikes, and identify which capacity and operator is available and best suited to a given region and need in order to meet a 24-hour deployment timeline.

The contributions will enable network connectivity during emergencies to support humanitarian operations, including logistics, urgent medical care, food delivery and the coordination of relief efforts.