GIS for International Development and Humanitarian Relief

Examples of GIS Applications and Research Sites for International Development

• IAPAD – Integrated Approaches to Participatory Development - very extensive site with focus on participatory uses of GIS and spatial learning
• World Bank – Poverty Net - resource site for measuring and analyzing poverty – includes Poverty Mapping section under Topics link, with Poverty Mapping Documents and Links which has good links to examples of articles and programs.
• Global Poverty Mapping Project (CIESIN, Columbia University)
• CIESIN (Center for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University) – a wealh of information, data sets, and projects
• SEDAC (Socio Economic Data and Appliation Center) – a program within CIESIN that specializes in socio-economic data
• Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) - DHS analyzes and distributes survey results regarding health, nutrition, HIV for over 75 countries. See the DHS GIS Overview page for online mapping and GIS-friendly data download/requests.
• A Nonprofit’s Introduction to Google’s Online Mapping Tools: How to use Google Maps and Google Earth for outreach and advocacy (from Tech Soup) – not international per se, but a good guide Google Maps for non-profits.
• Google Earth Outreach - not international per se, but a good site for non-profits that want to make use of Google Earth

Examples of GIS for Humanitarian Relief

• Ushahidi - a web-based platform for mapping information from reports from SMS, Twitter, e-mail, and web. Initially used to map election violence and intimidation in Kenya.
  • Ushahidi – Haiti - a joint effort by Ushahidi and the Tufts Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy to map reports coming from Haiti in order to help guide relief efforts
• Map Action - a UK-based NGO specializing in providing mapping and GIS analysis for humanitarian emergencies. This site has lots of good examples and discussions. Also, Map Action has produced
  • GIS Field Guide for Humanitarian Mapping, which is available for free download as a PDF.
  • Google Earth and its Potential in the Humanitarian Sector (2008 Briefing Paper)
• Relief Web - a UN agency whose mission is to provide time-critical information for humanitarian relief.
• UNOSAT -  UNOSAT delivers satellite imagery solutions to relief and development organisations within and outside the UN system to help communities exposed to poverty, hazards and risk, or affected by humanitarian and other crises
• A Rough Guide to Google Earth (Mercy Corps) – a how-to guide for using Google Earth for humanitarian relief projects.
• Proposing the Field of Crisis Mapping - a good blog post by Patrick Meier providing an overview of what crisis mapping is and what it requires.