The Regional Support Offices Meeting 2024 was recently conducted by UN-SPIDER at UN Campus in Bonn. The meeting was conducted following the UN-SPIDER Bonn International Conference on Space-based Solutions for Disaster Management: Early Warnings for All, of which many of the Regional Support Office representatives also attended.
The UN-SPIDER programme currently has 26 Regional Support Offices. These RSOs are engaged in supporting activities of UN-SPIDER such as technical advisory support, rapid mapping during emergency response, preparing specific publications and contents for the knowledge portal and contributing to the workshop and conferences.
Every year, UN-SPIDER organizes a meeting with the RSOs to discuss the annual progress and new activities. 16 RSOs joined this year's meeting, each contributing unique perspectives on the needs, approaches, and new developments that need to be addressed in the context of earth observation data for disaster management and emergency response.
UN-SPIDER representatives from both Bonn and Vienna presented on recent and future planned activities for the year, while RSO’s presented on their projects, training, and information exchanges related to geospatial data and disaster management. The primary takeaways for the meeting were an encouragement for all in attendance to continue to promote the Early Warning for All initiative spearheaded by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, a continuation of outreach activities including new hazard specific webinars, and a commitment to continue advisory support and launch new efforts in requesting countries.
The meeting also incorporated discussions amongst the RSOs on how they can collaboratively work on projects that support UN-SPIDER interests.
