Southern Asia

News

SERVIR programme in Kenya provides EO data to help financial aid reach farmers more efficiently

A variety of environmental and man-made factors can have a detrimental effect on the yield of farmers worldwide. A programme launched in Kenya, funded by SERVIR in collaboration with NASA Harvest and the Swiss Re Foundation, uses Earth observation (EO) data to assess crop damage and prioritise the mobilisation of financial aid to farmers.

SERVIR is a joint initiative by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and NASA’s Earth Applied Sciences Program that works with “leading regional organizations world-wide to help developing countries use information provided by Earth observing satellites and geospatial technologies for managing climate risks and land use”. SERVIR both provides access to EO... read more

Publishing Date: 03/03/2021

Regional Support Offices mentioned:

Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD)

IWMI wins award for innovative space-based drought monitoring work

IWMI staff receiving the GeoSpatial World Excellence Award 2020. Image: IWMI.

The International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a UN-SPIDER Regional Support Office, has won an award for its innovative work using remote sensing technology to help nations monitor and mitigate the impacts of drought. The Institute received the GeoSpatial World Excellence Award 2020 in recognition of the positive impact of its South Asia Drought Monitoring System (SADMS). Since IWMI launched SADMS in 2014, the system has guided national, state and district-level authorities in India and Sri Lanka to take timely action to prepare for drought.

The South Asia Drought Monitoring System (SADMS) provides maps of drought conditions that are produced and maintained at IWMI. Numerous drought indices - including the Integrated Drought Severity Index (IDSI), Standardized Precipitation Index, and Soil Moisture Index - have been developed to provide advanced drought monitoring and assessment information. The system has three components:... read more

Publishing Date: 27/09/2020

Regional Support Offices mentioned:

International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

UNESCAP publishes report on protecting the most vulnerable from climate extremes and COVID-19 in South Asia

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has published a policy study concerning the impending climate risk scenarios in South Asia and their intersection with the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this report is to facilitate policy actions that could protect communities at risk as well as to lay the foundations of resilient recovery of the most vulnerable in South Asia.

ESCAP has published two additional reports this year, one on the “Impact and Policy Responses for COVID-19 in Asia and the Pacific”, which presents an initial assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia and sub-regional report entitled “COVID-19 and South Asia: National Strategies and Subregional Cooperation for Accelerated Inclusive, Sustainable and Resilient Recovery”, which provides a comprehensive situation analysis of South Asia. This newly published policy study is hence an addition to the previous reports and sheds light on how to manage... read more

Publishing Date: 23/07/2020

Advisory Support

Nepal - Institutional Strengthening Mission

This activity was a follow up of the UN-SPIDER technical advisory mission to Nepal and included an international training programme. The training was held from 9 to 13 June 2014 and was on multi-level risk profiling, organized jointly by UN-SPIDER and its Regional Support Office ICIMOD. The purpose of the training programme, taking place in Kathmandu, Nepal, was to improve disaster risk management using space-based and geospatial information by imparting hands-on training to the officials of member countries supported by the ICIMOD and UN-SPIDER.

Mission dates: 09/06/2014 to 13/06/2014

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