Zambia

The lead UN agency for information and communication technology (ICT) is deploying satellite phones and terminals to help restore vital communication links in Zambia, where some 400,000 people have been affected by severe flooding. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is providing both Thuraya hand-held satellite phones, which provide accurate positioning coordinates to aid relief efforts, as well as Inmarsat Global Area Network (GAN) terminals. As many as 36,000 Zambians have been displaced, and nearly 3,500 homes and 44 schools have collapsed due to the heavy rainfall, which has also devastated crop harvests. (UN News Service)