Telecommunications is fundamental to the development of welfare, health and democracy, and provision of aid in any country. That is clearly missing in Southern Sudan, an impoverished region with a population of around 11 million, ravaged by decades of civil war, resulting in a severe lack of infrastructure and development.

At the request of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Ericsson Response – the company’s global initiative to provide disaster-hit areas with communications infrastructure – agreed in 2006 to set up its GSM network in Juba, Southern Sudan’s capital, starting in early 2007. Through this GSM system, relief organizations can securely share their communication infrastructure, making it easier to coordinate missions and communicate with local organizations.

Through Ericsson Response, Ericsson uses its expertise and position as a global company to support a fast, coordinated approach to providing communications for hard-hit areas. Since the beginning of the program in 2000, Ericsson has trained over 200 volunteers for active duty, that also included comprehensive crisis training.