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Free guide makes humanitarian mapping simple
Written by: MapAction
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In humanitarian emergencies, much - in fact, probably most - of the information needed by aid workers has a 'where' element to it. Where are the affected people? Where are the greatest needs? Where are other aid actors working? And, of course, where is the money coming from - though that one can be a little harder to work out. It's no surprise, then, that relief workers fresh on the scene of a disaster scream for maps to organise assessments, programme responses and figure out the logistics. Five years ago, few non-specialists had the means to produce their own maps, and most aid workers would have last dealt in latitudes and longitudes back in school. But gadgets like GPS-equipped mobile phones, alongside Google Earth and Google Maps (which are as much social phenomena as computer tools), are changing that. The potency of mapped information for humanitarian action was demonstrated during Kenya's 2008 post-election violence by www.ushahidi.com - an online mapping engine that enables instant information sharing. Over the past decade, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have promised much to the humanitarian community. But many aid workers have been frustrated by the way the software has become more, rather than less, complex to use. Dozens of open-source GIS software projects have offered ways to try out computer-based mapping without spending thousands. But unfortunately free of charge does not necessarily mean free of geo-jargon. My organisation, MapAction, is doing its best to cut through to the simple truths of "geospatial methods" (yes, it's hard even to come up with a word in plain English - "mapping" doesn't quite cover the whole thing). We have just published a guide to mapping for humanitarian emergencies, available free to aid agencies. It gives step-by-step guidance on using Google Earth (free) in the emergency environment, based on the advantage that it can be run without an internet connection. For the slightly more adventurous, there's also a tutorial on MapWindow - an open-source (so also free) GIS software toolkit that takes mapping a stage further yet can be grasped by an enthusiastic beginner in a couple of hours. MapAction is looking for feedback from aid workers on how (hopefully) you put these tools to use in planning and executing humanitarian programmes. Because, as we humanitarian GIS-ers say, aid in the wrong place is no help at all.
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