At the request of the Minister of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Armenia, UN-SPIDER is conducting a Technical Advisory Mission (TAM) to Armenia from 27 June to 1 July 2022. With this mission, UN-SPIDER together with experts aims to assist Armenia in improving disaster risk management and emergency response by the utilization of the space-based technologies and geospatial information, thereby helping to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The expert team is comprised of experts from the following institutions:
- Earth and Planetary Image Facility, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
- Delta State University, USA
- Iranian Space Agency, Iran
- Oklahoma State University, USA
- Geoinformatics Center, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand
- Group on Earth Observation (GEO)
- UN-SPIDER/UNOOSA
During the TAM, the team will meet key government departments and institutes that contribute to disaster management and emergency response and also conduct a national workshop to collect the necessary information. Visits and meetings are planned to the following organisations:
- Ministry of Emergency Situations
- Ministry of High Technological Industry
- Ministry of Health
- Ministry of Economy
- Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures
- Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports
- Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- RA Police
- Cadastre Committee
- Space Museum
- United Nations in Armenia
During the mission UN-SPIDER together with its partners and the Armenian colleagues observed and discussed a variety of topics, such as:
- Current strategies and policy frameworks related to disaster risk reduction, space and geospatial information
- Availability of geospatial information
- Current use of space-based technologies
- Institutional linkages and coordination
- Data sharing practices
- Applications of geospatial information
- Existing capacities and needs
- Challenges and constraints
Furthermore, the team congratulated Armenia for its first Armenian satellite that has been launched into space in May 2022.
The outcome will be a comprehensive report with observations, recommendations, and action plans for enabling Armenia to effectively utilize space-based information in all phases of disaster management.
We will update the news once the TAM is completed.
