UN SPIDER: Networking on a global scale: UN-SPIDER’s Regional Support Offices

Any organization that wants to make a change on a global level needs a global network to support it, because no single actor possesses the whole set of required skills. Since its establishment in 2006, UN-SPIDER has therefore devoted considerable efforts to building its network of Regional Support Offices (RSOs). 16 RSOs in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe are currently cooperating with the programme.

This network of RSOs is quite diverse. Some RSOs are national agencies, including space agencies, civil protection agencies, national geographic institutes or national research facilities or universities. Others are regional organizations working on remote sensing applications, disaster risk management, regional development or emergency response. All RSOs have notable experience in the use of space technologies for disaster risk reduction and emergency response.

The network of RSOs works in close collaboration with staff in the three UN-SPIDER offices of Beijing, Bonn and Vienna. Furthermore, UN-SPIDER regularly organises Regional Support Office meetings, where the experts can exchange experiences and develop new projects. Joint activities are cross-cutting in UN-SPIDER’s pillars of work: Technical Advisory Missions, training activities and other capacity building measures, ad-hoc emergency support, and bridging knowledge gaps in the use of space technologies in disaster risk reduction or emergency response. For example, the RSOs use their expertise to develop tailor-made training material and to conduct one-week training courses with the aim of strengthening the skills of staff in Government agencies on the use of specific software applications to process satellite imagery.

The new Newsletter: “UN-SPIDER and its network of Regional Support Offices” informs on the critical support the network of RSOs provides to UN-SPIDER’s programme of work. It describes how the members of the network contribute with experience, knowledge and resources to UN-SPIDER’s various activities. The newsletter also presents different examples of how Regional Support Offices in Central America, Eastern Europe, the Hindu Kush Himalaya region and Eastern Africa have contributed to UN-SPIDER’s goal to help countries make more efficient use of satellite technologies.

Read the NewsletterAny organization that wants to make a change on a global level needs a global network to support it, because no single actor possesses the whole set of required skills. Since its establishment in 2006, UN-SPIDER has therefore devoted considerable efforts to building its network of Regional Support Offices (RSOs). 16 RSOs in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe are currently cooperating with the programme.

This network of RSOs is quite diverse. Some RSOs are national agencies, including space agencies, civil protection agencies, national geographic institutes or national research facilities or universities. Others are regional organizations working on remote sensing applications, disaster risk management, regional development or emergency response. All RSOs have notable experience in the use of space technologies for disaster risk reduction and emergency response.

The network of RSOs works in close collaboration with staff in the three UN-SPIDER offices of Beijing, Bonn and Vienna. Furthermore, UN-SPIDER regularly organises Regional Support Office meetings, where the experts can exchange experiences and develop new projects. Joint activities are cross-cutting in UN-SPIDER’s pillars of work: Technical Advisory Missions, training activities and other capacity building measures, ad-hoc emergency support, and bridging knowledge gaps in the use of space technologies in disaster risk reduction or emergency response. For example, the RSOs use their expertise to develop tailor-made training material and to conduct one-week training courses with the aim of strengthening the skills of staff in Government agencies on the use of specific software applications to process satellite imagery.

The new Newsletter: “UN-SPIDER and its network of Regional Support Offices” informs on the critical support the network of RSOs provides to UN-SPIDER’s programme of work. It describes how the members of the network contribute with experience, knowledge and resources to UN-SPIDER’s various activities. The newsletter also presents different examples of how Regional Support Offices in Central America, Eastern Europe, the Hindu Kush Himalaya region and Eastern Africa have contributed to UN-SPIDER’s goal to help countries make more efficient use of satellite technologies.

Read the Newsletter