A team of four volunteers from MapAction joined the international relief effort in the devastating floods in southern Mexico, in November 2007. In the flooded city of Villahermosa in Tabasco province, more than 80,000 people took refuge in schools and churches. This placed them at risk from diseases such as dengue fever and cholera. (Picture: Reuters/Alertnet)

A MapAction team deployed in October to the Dominican Republic where Tropical Storm Noel caused severe flooding and displaced more than 64,000 people. More than 80% of the country has been affected. This was MapAction’s second emergency mission in the Caribbean region this year, having sent a team to Jamaica following Hurricane Dean. (Picture: Reuters/Alertnet)

In October 2007, MapAction completed its first 50 field and training missions. Prince Harry, the charity's Royal Patron, attended a reception and presentation to mark this milestone. About 140 guests and members of MapAction met at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in central London. 

Flooding in north-eastern Ghana in September killed at least six people and affected over 260,000, according to the Government. Thousands of homes were destroyed and the flooding also caused major bridges to collapse and destroyed crops. Following the deployment of a UN assessment and coordination group, a MapAction team deployed to support them from Tamale in northern Ghana.

MapAction team member Philip Moore has returned from a one-month attachment to the UN Joint Logistics Centre responding to the flooding emergency in Pakistan which affected more than one million people. Based in Islamabad, he produced situation maps for the logistics coordination cluster and other humanitarian organisations.

On Friday 17 August 2007, Hurricane Dean tore through the eastern Caribbean and then strengthened to Category 4 as it brushed the south coast of Jamaica. MapAction deployed an emergency response team to the island. The team worked closely with government agencies, the UN and Red Cross to assess and map damage and immediate relief needs.

Anne Frankland of MapAction travels to South Sudan in August to start a six-month contract with the UN Joint Logistics Centre. Anne will be replacing Nick McWilliam, also of MapAction, who has been in Sudan since early 2007. The post is based in Juba, and involves building local capacity for mapping transport routes across southern Sudan. 

MapAction will be training engineers and disaster response professionals in the use of GIS and GPS technologies in a two-stage mission to Mozambique over the coming months. The project was instigated by the Dean of Mozambique’s technical university (UDM) who, recognising a need for predictive flood mapping, sought MapAction’s help. 

Project HARMLESS, researching and promoting the use of next-generation satellite navigation technologies for humanitarian and emergency uses, has reached its first major milestone. The project, in which MapAction is a consortium partner, has completed its Critical Analysis phase, with a report recently issued.

MapAction received a GIS Excellence Award from ESRI at a ceremony on 24 April. The award recognises the charity's innovation in using geographical information technologies in disaster relief. Roger Wedge of MapAction received the award from Richard Waite, managing director of ESRI (UK) at the GISTech 2007 event. 

Prince Harry has lent his personal support to MapAction by becoming the charity’s Royal Patron. The charity’s director David Spackman stated it was “a great honour and boost to our continuing development”. The Prince is said to be very interested in the role of MapAction and the work of its teams in disaster emergencies. 

MapAction has formed its first regional section, which will be based in the Caribbean area. Once operational, the team will assist in regional emergencies including responding to hurricane impacts. Pictured are team leader Vijay Datadin (centre) with Darren Kowlessar (right) and MapAction chairman Andrew Douglas-Bate. 

European geospatial services will be promoted to the Latin American region through newly-launched Project JAGUAR, with MapAction playing a role in maximising humanitarian applications, by contributing its expertise on the use of remote sensed imagery in disaster emergencies.

MapAction has completed a mission to Kenya to strengthen capacity in disaster response during the recent flood emergency that affected much of the eastern side of the country as well as neighbouring Somalia and Ethiopia. In Kenya alone, some 700,000 people were seriously affected.