Welcome to issue 40 of the Call to Comms!

Following hurricane Otis, learn more about TSF's response to support humanitarian coordination on the ground.

Also this week: what you need to know about what’s happening in Armenia, and an update on the situation in Gaza.

TSF’s Response to Hurricane Otis 

In the aftermath of Hurricane Otis in Acapulco, Mexico, TSF deployed to support emergency telecommunications as part of its collaboration with the International Movement of the Red Cross. TSF provided equipment to enable the National Society of the Red Cross to conduct safer operations on the ground and assist the affected community.

Hurricane Otis hit the coast on Wednesday 25th as a category 5 storm causing at least 39 deaths, extensive damage and severing communication, road and air connections.

TSF staff from the base in Mexico were deployed to train Mexican Red Cross personnel on the use of the equipment which would be immediately sent to the field to facilitate the operations.

This week’s reads

1 - The Armenian exodus from Nagorno-Karabakh

• In just a few weeks, over 100,000 ethnic Armenians have been forced to flee the highly disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, located in Southern Caucasus.
• Local humanitarian groups and the ICRC have expressed concern about the lack of media coverage of the humanitarian emergency, which could result in insufficient funding to address the needs of displaced populations.
• Most people have left their homes with nothing, and with the winter setting in, they find themselves in very precarious situations.

2 - Temporary communications blackout in Gaza

• After the water, food and fuel shortages, it is now the infrastructure needed to supply the Internet that has been interrupted, leaving Gaza into a total Internet blackout.
• Without internet access, the people of Gaza have been unable to communicate with their loved ones, and humanitarian workers were no longer able to coordinate their actions to meet the needs of the affected populations.
• After two days of complete blackout, internet communication has been restored in the area.
• Since the escalation of the conflict, humanitarian intervention in Gaza has been very restricted.

See you next week!