US embassy cable - 05ISLAMABAD17853

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ISLAMABAD 017853 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE ALSO PASS TO USAID 
USAID/W FOR A/AID ANDREW NATSIOS, JBRAUSE 
DCHA/OFDA GGOTTLIEB, MMARX, RTHAYER, BDEEMER 
AID/W FOR DCHA/OFDA 
SOUTH ASIA RESPONSE MANAGEMENT TEAM 
SOUTH ASIA EARTHQUAKE TASK FORCE 
DCHA/FFP FOR JONATHAN DWORKEN 
ANE DEPUTY ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR MARK WARD 
BANGKOK FOR OFDA SENIOR REGIONAL ADVISOR TOM DOLAN 
KATHMANDU FOR OFDA REGIONAL ADVISOR WILLIAM BERGER 
ROME PASS FODAG 
GENEVA FOR RMA AND NKYLOH 
NSC FOR JMELINE 
EUCOM FOR POLA/J3/J4/J5 
BRUSSELS FOR USAID PLERNER 
NEW YORK FOR TMALY 
SECDEF FOR SOLIC/PKHA, USDP/J3 
JOINT STAFF WASH DC FOR J3/J4/J5 
HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE FOR J3/J5 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID, AEMR, ASEC, MASS, ECON, KMDR, KPAO, OIIP, OPRC, PGOV, PREL, PK, Earthquake 
SUBJECT: PAKISTAN - EARTHQUAKE: USAID/DART USING GIS TO 
IDENTIFY UNMET HUMANITARIAN NEEDS 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  Since the beginning of the earthquake response, the 
USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has included 
a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Officer.  The GIS 
Officer, currently from the U.S. Department of State's 
Humanitarian Information Unit, regularly prepares maps and 
information products to demonstrate the extent and type of 
humanitarian requirements and show the locations of partner 
activities.  USAID-funded nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs) recently submitted information on the coverage area 
of their activities, which was transferred to a GIS program 
and displayed in a comprehensive map.  The USAID/DART used 
the map to identify unmet humanitarian needs and avoid 
duplication of services.  The GIS Officer has provided an 
important service to the USAID/DART by providing the team 
with "eyes on the ground" knowledge.  End Summary. 
 
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Scope of Work 
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2.  In the early stages of a disaster, maps are developed to 
show areas that are most severely affected, the number of 
people in need, and accessibility to the affected areas. 
Much of this information is reported and mapped as large 
polygons, each colored to reflect a single piece of data 
such as the percent of damage.  Once this information is 
mapped, demand is often created for more detailed 
information about specific areas. 
 
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Maps as Program Tools 
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3.  In recent years, GIS has become an important tool for 
the humanitarian and disaster response community and at 
present is widely used in the earthquake response in 
Pakistan.  The US military is using GIS for helicopter 
landing zones and delivery of materials; the UN Humanitarian 
Information Center and Joint Logistics Center both have GIS 
staff for production of specialized maps; and some NGOs are 
using GIS for information management.  Additional details 
regarding multi-agency information management in the 
Pakistan earthquake response will be reported septel. 
 
4. The USAID/DART is creating maps to track the operational 
locations of implementing partners in order to determine if 
needs are being met and if areas exist where people are not 
being reached.  Maps are also used to identify gaps in 
coverage to enable implementing partners to expand their 
areas of operation to cover these needs.  On November 17, 
the USAID/DART invited partner nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs) to a coordination meeting in Islamabad that included 
a mapping exercise.  Each partner delineated their area of 
operation on a paper topographic map and the information was 
then transferred to a GIS system through on-screen 
digitization.  The partners' working areas were displayed as 
distinct polygons.  Once all of the partner program data was 
digitized onto one map, the USAID/DART had a collective 
visual representation of all NGO program areas. 
 
5.  The USAID/DART Program Officer held follow-up meetings 
with individual NGOs and took along maps showing the 
combined program areas as well as a detailed map showing the 
operational area of each NGO.  The maps triggered 
discussions about on-the-ground coordination between NGOs 
working in the same location, areas where needs appeared to 
be unmet, delivery routes to the areas, and possible 
duplication of NGO services in a particular area.  Partners 
were also asked to add any program updates to the maps.  The 
changes were subsequently relayed to the GIS Officer to more 
accurately reflect the reality on the ground. 
 
6.  The USAID/DART used the maps produced by the GIS Officer 
to assist with grant proposal reviews.  Program staff 
entered new or second tranche grant proposal information in 
the GIS to determine if the areas specified in the proposal 
were already covered, whether the proposal appeared to 
extend into an area with no previously identified damage, 
and to ascertain whether the proposed program location could 
be modified to cover an area of identified need. 
Information from this process was used to support funding 
decisions. 
 
7.  At a second coordination meeting on November 24, NGOs 
were asked to provide additional information for mapping. 
NGOs responded to a questionnaire that asked if partner 
programs were meeting all or partial needs for shelter and 
emergency relief commodities.  They were also asked if they 
knew of areas where these needs were not being met.  In some 
cases, individual NGOs were working in up to seven separate 
sites and implementing different programs at each site. 
Data from the questionnaire was then linked to the 
respective NGO polygons in the GIS by the GIS Officer.  Maps 
were produced showing commitments for winter shelter kit 
distribution and emergency relief commodity distribution. 
 
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A Replicable Model 
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8.  To promote donor collaboration, the USAID/DART shared 
map products with colleagues at the UK's Department for 
International Development (DFID).  Recognizing the value of 
the GIS program, DFID has begun to implement a similar 
program to map the program location of DFID-funded NGOs.  At 
DFID's request, the GIS Officer is providing assistance in 
duplicating the same model with DFID-funded NGOs. 
 
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Value Added for USAID Mission 
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9.  USAID/Pakistan requested the assistance of the GIS 
Officer in identifying and testing GIS software for possible 
use in the Mission.  To more effectively display the 
geographical coverage of programs, USAID/Pakistan aims to 
import spreadsheets with location coordinates into a 
comprehensive map.  The GIS Officer recently gave a one-hour 
GIS presentation and demonstrated ways that GIS tools can be 
useful for program management.  The Mission plans to use 
maps created by the GIS Officer designed to track the 
locations of USAID-funded earthquake activities as a 
starting point for reconstruction planning, thereby allowing 
USAID to build on existing relationships with local 
government officials, NGOs, and other stakeholders. 
 
CROCKER