Technical Support to UNJLC

Country: Pakistan Flag: Status: Past

Dates: Start: October 2005 End: March 2006

Donor: UNJLC

When a 7.6 magnitude earthquake devastated northeastern Pakistan on 8 October 2005, causing more than 70,000 deaths and leaving tens of thousands more homeless, iMMAP and the United Nations Joint Logistics Center (UNJLC) were quick to respond. UNJLC established an emergency office in Islamabad to ensure uninterrupted, timely and cost effective relief and recovery response. iMMAP seconded an Information Management Officer to UNJLC to compile cartographic information products that reflected the evolving logistical landscape in the areas hit by the disaster. iMMAP also assisted in the development, application and adaptation of existing geographic information system (GIS) based transportation and logistics optimization models to the specific conditions in Pakistan. This emergency posed huge transportation and logistical challenges to relief groups because of the remote and rugged nature of the mountainous terrain in the affected areas, making it very difficult to reach the people most in need.

During the crisis in Pakistan, iMMAP:

• Conducted field reconnaissance in the Muzaffarabad area.
• Created a comprehensive helicopter landing zone database and map series.
• Compiled the best available roads, settlements, population, climate, and boundary datasets for general map production.
• Created a multilingual place-name converter.
• Compiled the best available climate dataset for use in map production for the Operation Winter Race Area map series.
• Acquired high quality, accurate Pakistan survey maps of affected areas.