23 May 2017 – The United Nations peacekeeping office today announced a new software application that is enhancing efficiency and situational awareness in the field.
The app, created as a result of collaboration with the Government of Singapore, alerts everyone necessary in the event of an emergency and is expected to be fully operational this year.
“We hope this will serve as a model for similar projects with Member States,” said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the new Under-Secretary-General for UN Peacekeeping Operations.
Mr. Lacroix accepted the software in a ceremony today in New York, alongside Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, Atul Khare.
“This software will help keep all entities updated in the unfortunate situation when our colleagues in the field are killed, injured or fall ill, enabling Headquarters to respond with speed and efficiency,” Mr. Khare said.
According to information from the peacekeeping department, the software is compatible with other UN systems, stores information in a central location and provides secure access to permitted users only.
It is expected to “significantly improve the information processing time” as compared with the current manual process of casualty notification.
The app is in line with recommendations made to the peacekeeping office to deploy more information management and analysis tools to strengthen our operations. Those suggestions were made in the reports of the Expert Panel on Technology and Innovation in UN Peacekeeping and the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO).
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