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New Tool
For Relief Operations in Pakistan Will Increase
Effectiveness & Reach of Assistance
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As the Pakistani government and relief organizations
struggle to reach all areas affected by the 7.6-magnitude
earthquake in Pakistan, a powerful new tool has been created
to coordinate information and increase the effectiveness of
relief efforts.
The Relief Information System for Earthquakes-Pakistan (www.RISEPAK.com) is an information-sharing web
portal that compiles demographic data, damage information
and relief updates at the village level to ensure that no
areas are overlooked. It was created through a collaborative
effort between the World Bank/Government of Pakistan
coordinating team for relief work and Pakistan's largest
Internet provider, World Online (WOL).
“Our goal is to make sure no village is left behind,”
explains Tahir Andrabi, a member of the coordinating team
and an economics professor at Pomona College. “Most of the visual news
reporting is coming from the larger towns, but there are
more than 4,000 smaller villages affected and only 25 towns.
Everyone on the ground realizes there’s a problem, but
everybody is so busy providing relief, they don’t have time
to set up a system. That’s what we were able to do.”
RISEPAK offers pre-earthquake information showing
village-level demographic and infrastructure data, major
road networks and the distance of every village from the
epicenter of the earthquake. Most importantly it can track
damage, information on injuries, what medical supplies are
needed, what has been supplied, and what is still needed in
each village.
The web portal is a joint effort by experts from Lahore
University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Harvard University
and Pomona College in the U.S., the World Bank, Pakistan’s
National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), Mahbub
ul Haq Human Development Center, and WOL.
Relief workers, donors, government officials, army relief
operations, NGO’s and volunteers can provide updated
information directly from the field, by posting information
to www.RISEPAK.com, sending text-messages, faxes, e-mails,
or calling any of the listed phone numbers.
The website has been set up so that information from even
the most remote village can appear in less than eight hours.
"In many disasters coordination is the biggest obstacle. We
have the technology that can change that. We can get this
right," says Aamer Manzoor, co-founder and vice-president of
WOL.
It's an achievement that's possible given the collaborative
efforts, including the Lahore University of Management
Services, LUMS, whose students will input the data onto the
website.
"The new website is like a command center information tool
for relief operations," says Jishnu Das, an economist with
the Bank's Development Research Group.
The original idea for www.RISEPAK.com
came from a conversation between Tara Vishwanath and Jinshu
Das, from World Bank, and two experts, Professor Asim Ijaz
Khwaja of the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard
University, and Professor Andrabi of Pomona College.
Donors, non-governmental organizations as well as the
government and army relief workers are being urged to supply
information to help ensure the new website is up to date.
How to Provide Information:
RISE: Pakistan Relief and Information Systems for
Earthquakes: Pakistan www.risepak.com
Telephone: 0301-4573534
Fax: 042-5894990
SMS: 0301- 4573531,0301- 4573532
E-mail: quake@wol.net.pk
CONTACTS:
Tahir Andrabi
Professor of Economics
Pomona College
Phone: (909) 607-2513
Email: Tahir.Andrabi@pomona.edu
Fax: 909-621-8576
NOTE: Prof. Andrabi will be leaving for Pakistan on Friday,
10/20, and will return on Sunday, October 30. During that
time he can reached via email, which he will check once
daily.
Asim Ijaz Khwaja
Assistant Professor of Public Policy
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University
Phone : 617-384-7790
Email: asim_ijaz_khwaja@harvard.edu
Fax: 617-495-2575
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