Managing Disaster Response through Mobile: Latin America

From GSMA Intelligence, in collaboration with the GSMA's Disaster Response team, this report provides an overview of the Latin American mobile market, the disaster risk landscape, and examples of the innovative solutions being developed by the industry. In addition to providing a regional overview, this report focuses on two markets - Colombia and Guatemala - offering recent examples of natural disasters, the mobile industry landscape, and the prevalence of mobile money as one of the potential modes of humanitarian support.

GSMA explains that the region has found that resources for disaster relief efforts are limited and often insufficient for the scale of the natural disasters they face. As Latin America is located in an area of significant seismological activity, earthquakes are a common occurrence, as are landslides and flooding. In addition to natural disasters, the region has experienced significant political instability, leading to situations of humanitarian concern in many countries. These are most prominent in Colombia where, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are more internally displaced people than any other country in the world. Mobile connectivity is considered a lifeline for communities facing risks and realities of humanitarian impacts brought about by natural and manmade disasters. In 2015, 3G coverage in Latin America reached 89% of the population, and 4G coverage reached 50%, with a forecast of reaching 93% and 89% respectively in the next five years. By 2020, 70% of customers are expected to adopt smartphones, increasing from 46% today. There is an increasing focus on the "digitisation" of humanitarian assistance and the provision of aid or services via mobile. Remittance and companion cards are among the mobile payment areas emerging in this region.

As detailed here, in March 2015, the GSMA launched the Humanitarian Connectivity Charter to support the mobile industry in improving preparedness and resilience. The charter consists of a set of shared principles adopted by key players in the mobile industry, and endorsed by key humanitarian organisations, to support improved access to communication and information for those affected by crisis in order to reduce the loss of life and positively contribute to humanitarian response. The principles of the charter are to:

• enhance coordination within and among mobile network operators before, during, and after a disaster;
• scale and standardise preparedness and response activities across the industry to enable a more predictable response; and
• strengthen partnerships between the mobile industry, government, and the humanitarian sector.

To date, over 100 mobile network operators (MNOs) operating in more than 75 countries have committed to these principles. Charter engagement will be based in 4 key regions: Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America. This report is part of a series focusing on these regions. (See Related Summaries, below

MNOs in Latin America have launched services across the region that enable them and their customers to improve their preparedness and response to disasters; several are cited. For example, MNOs have deployed resources to help publicise a National Evacuation Drill and the Search and Rescue Drill organised by Colombia's National Unit for Disaster Risk Management in 2016. Through these efforts, 9 million people were informed via a series of broadcasts across the country.

Case studies are provided of Colombia and Guatemala. For example, in the latter country, MNOs Claro, Movistar, and Tigo have signed a cooperation agreement with the GSMA and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, pledging to work together on the use of mobile services to prepare for and respond to emergencies caused by natural disaster, through the We Care Guatemala campaign. The programme has several goals, including: setting up a coordination board or committee among government institutions responsible for disaster response, the private sector, and other key stakeholders; creating an action protocol to prioritise the mobile network as a public necessity in emergencies or crises; raising awareness and providing training on appropriate use of mobile telephony in emergencies; promoting voluntary blood donation in emergencies and informing the population about safe places or shelters set up to provide assistance; and analysing the best technologies to implement for emergency response. It is also noted here that mobile money has seen strong growth in Guatemala. There are currently two mobile money services active in the country: Tigo Money (Tigo, Milicom) and Bancamigo (Claro, America Movil). Tigo Money in Guatemala is distributing humanitarian aid in partnership with Oxfam.

The report underlines the importance of effective planning. In Chile, following the 2010 earthquake that caused more than 500 casualties, the government instigated a series of policies to safeguard the country from future disasters. In 2015, when an 8.4 magnitude earthquake triggered a 4.5-metre-high tsunami, the successful and timely evacuation of more than one million people from the coastal region saved lives, according to GSMA's Dulip Tillekeratne. He says, "the correct policy set-up, infrastructure, safety and rigour, as well as having the preparedness mind-set, has proven to be the ideal formula for increasing resilience. With its growing presence and connectivity, the mobile industry is demonstrating its central role in dealing with disasters and crises, across the disaster lifecycle - from mitigation, to preparedness, response and recovery."