=20

<= IMG=20 height=3D12 alt=3DAfrica = src=3D"http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/013africa_ba.gif"=20 width=3D46>
<= IMG=20 height=3D12 alt=3DAmericas = src=3D"http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/013americas_ba.gif"=20 width=3D61>
<= IMG=20 height=3D12 alt=3DAsia = src=3D"http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/013asia_ba.gif"=20 width=3D33>
<= IMG=20 height=3D12 alt=3DEurope = src=3D"http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/013europe_ba.gif"=20 width=3D48>
<= IMG=20 height=3D12 alt=3DOceania = src=3D"http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/013oceania_ba.gif"=20 width=3D53>

Source: The World Bank Group

Date: 19 Oct 2005

A new tool for relief operations in = Pakistan

As relief = operations=20 continue in Pakistan, a new website has just been launched to help = coordinate=20 emergency assistance to the hundreds of thousands of people in need of = aid.=20

The website - www.risepak.com - is the result of a collaborative = effort=20 between people from the World Bank, the Government of Pakistan, academic = institutions in the United States and Pakistan, as well as private = enterprise.=20

RISE stands for Relief and Information Systems for Earthquakes = Pakistan.=20

"The new website is like a command center information tool for relief = operations," says Jishnu Das, an economist with the Bank's Development = Research=20 Group.=20

Das, along with colleague, Tara Vishwanath, a lead economist in the = World=20 Bank's South Asia region, were prime instigators behind the new website = designed=20 to provide information on damage and relief operations at the village = level in=20 Pakistan.=20

The website www.risepak.com aims to give maps and the latest up to = date=20 information on some 4000 villages affected by the earthquake - providing = data=20 about the villages' population and infrastructure such as roads and = schools=20 prior to the disaster.=20

But it goes one step future - aiming to provide up to date = information about=20 the situation at the village level after the earthquake such as those = injured,=20 needing medical assistance and what supplies like tents have been given = to=20 villages.=20

In an innovative move, the website is designed to allow the = government, army=20 relief operations, donors and non government organizations working as = part of=20 the relief effort to supply information about their work on the ground = at the=20 village level.=20

"When major natural disaster events happen, there is an immediate = need for=20 estimates of damage to people and infrastructure, which helps target and = coordinate emergency relief," says Piet Buys, the geographical = information=20 systems expert at the Bank.=20

"The website features spatial population maps allowing us to = integrate=20 existing data from censuses, satellites and topographic maps with = information=20 that comes back from the field," he says.=20

Das says at the moment, most of the information about the quake's = impact is=20 only available at a district level.=20

'There is no system which allows people to figure out which specific = villages=20 have been reached or how they're affected," he says. "Most of these = affected=20 villages are in rural areas. This will help ensure that all villages are = on=20 everyone's radar screens."=20

The website has been set up so that information from even the most = remote=20 village can appear in less than eight hours.=20

As part of the collaborative effort, the website was designed by = Pakistan's=20 largest internet provider, World Online, which operates under the brand = name,=20 WOL.=20

"In many disasters coordination is the biggest obstacle. We have the=20 technology that can change that. We can get this right," says Aamer = Manzoor,=20 co-founder and vice-president of World Online.=20

"An information chain that starts on foot might connect to a relief = worker=20 with a cell phone and appear on the RISE portal within eight hours."=20

It's an achievement that's possible given the collaborative efforts = as well=20 from the Lahore University of Management Services, LUMS, which has = students=20 working to input the data onto the website.=20

"This has been an amazing spontaneous effort that's taken on a life = of its=20 own," Vishwanath says.=20

She says it was initially a conversation with her World Bank = colleague,=20 Jinshu Das and two experts, Professor Asim Ijaz Khwaja of the Kennedy = School of=20 Government, Harvard University and Professor Tahir Andrabi of Pomona = College=20 that led to the website's creation.=20

Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority, known as = NADRA, has=20 also supported the website, by supplying geographical data. That's then = been=20 linked with the latest census from Pakistan and data from the Bank to = give the=20 most up to date information available on villages affected by the quake. =

Donors, non government organizations as well as the government and = army=20 relief workers are being urged to supply information to help ensure the = new=20 website is up to date.=20

Professor Andrabi says there are various means by which the = information can=20 be passed on.=20

"People can provide information by directly uploading the data on=20 www.risepak.com, sending us text messages, faxes, emails, or even by = phone," he=20 says.=20

Vishwanath says the website has support from the Government of = Pakistan, as=20 well as from the World Bank's Country Director for Pakistan, John Wall.=20

"This spontaneous collaboration has become much bigger than just a = few=20 people," she says.=20

"People came together and everyone quickly realized the promise of = such a=20 website."=20

John Wall says at the moment everyone involved in the website is = "running on=20 adrenalin."=20

"We all need to ensure that the portal remains an important link to = long-term=20 reconstruction efforts in Pakistan" he says. =

With the exception of public UN sources,=20 reproduction or redistribution of the above text, in whole, part = or in any=20 form, requires the prior consent of the original=20 source.

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